PhD position on the ecology and evolution of giant viruses
We are seeking a PhD candidate for the ERC funded project “CHIMERA”
CHIMERA will investigate the role of mobile genetic elements in the ecology and evolution of giant viruses. These viruses are abundant in soil and aquatic environments, infecting a wide range of protist hosts. Besides unusually large particle sizes, giant viruses possess complex “chimeric” genomes, including genes that were likely acquired from their hosts as well as bacteria that infect the same hosts. Unique is the presence of mobile genetic elements, that may play an important role in host-parasite co-evolution, whereby the same molecular systems are employed by hosts and parasites for defence and subsequent counter-defence. The holder of this PhD position will support the project by studying the competition and interactions between viruses, bacteria and their hosts, from the micro (in a controlled laboratory environment) to the macro scale (in the wild).
The research will be conducted as part of a Starting Grant from the European Research Council under the supervision of Dr. Anouk Willemsen, hosted at the Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME) at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) of the University of Vienna.
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CHIMERA will investigate the role of mobile genetic elements in the ecology and evolution of giant viruses. These viruses are abundant in soil and aquatic environments, infecting a wide range of protist hosts. Besides unusually large particle sizes, giant viruses possess complex “chimeric” genomes, including genes that were likely acquired from their hosts as well as bacteria that infect the same hosts. Unique is the presence of mobile genetic elements, that may play an important role in host-parasite co-evolution, whereby the same molecular systems are employed by hosts and parasites for defence and subsequent counter-defence. The holder of this PhD position will support the project by studying the competition and interactions between viruses, bacteria and their hosts, from the micro (in a controlled laboratory environment) to the macro scale (in the wild).
The research will be conducted as part of a Starting Grant from the European Research Council under the supervision of Dr. Anouk Willemsen, hosted at the Division of Microbial Ecology (DOME) at the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CMESS) of the University of Vienna.
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