Organisation/Company: Inserm
Department: U1212
Research Field: Biological sciences » Biology, Computer science » Programming
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1), Master Positions
Country: France
Application Deadline: 1 Jan 2025 - 00:00 (Europe/Brussels)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 10 Jan 2025
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Offer Description We are looking for a Master student in Microbiology, Molecular biology, Biochemistry, or Bioinformatics for 6 months. Starting date: between September 2024 and January 2025.
Most bacteria encode multiple toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems. The expression of the toxic protein in absence of the antitoxin leads to the bacterial host death. Our team is interested in the study of type I TA systems (T1TA), where the antitoxin is an RNA that base-pairs with the mRNA of the toxin, inhibiting translation. We aim to understand the precise regulatory mechanisms that govern the activity of these systems. To this end, we combine standard molecular microbiology techniques (e.g., Northern blot, Western blot, and bacterial viability assays) with high-throughput genetic screenings. For the latter, we couple random mutagenesis to next-generation sequencing in order to identify mutants that inactivate the toxin or inhibit its expression. The broad distribution of these systems among pathogenic bacteria together with their ability to cause bacterial death makes T1AT great candidates for the development of new antibiotics. Understanding their regulation and mechanism of action is crucial for exploiting them as a new source of antimicrobials.
Work environment The work will be carried out in the ARNA Laboratory "Nucleic acids: Natural and artificial regulation" (Inserm U1212, CNRS UMR 5320, University of Bordeaux, France). ARNA is an interdisciplinary unit gathering around 120 chemists, biologists, and biophysicists studying nucleic acids. The bioinformatician will join the BacRB team , focusing on the regulation of type I toxin-antitoxin systems in bacterial pathogens. More information about the ARNA lab can be found at https://arna.cnrs.fr/ and https://lerhun.u-bordeaux.fr/
Where to apply E-mail: ******
Requirements Research Field: Biological sciences » Biology, Education Level: Undergraduate
Research Field: Computer science » Programming, Education Level: Undergraduate
Research Field: Biological sciences, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Research Field: Computer science, Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications For Biology:
PCR
Cloning
Bacterial cultures
For bioinformatics:
Familiarized with command-line Linux
Programming with Python
Producing and maintaining reliable, reproducible, and documented work (e.g., Jupyter Notebook)
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