There are currently a number of PhD studentships funded through the NERC CENTA doctoral centre . Full lists are here
Application deadline – 23 January 2017 . Details of application process are here
Phage-related PhD project opportunities are:
Bacteriophage infecting ubiquitous and abundant plant-associated bacteria
The main aim of this project is to isolate bacteriophages infecting isolates of Methylobacterium as there is currently not a single report of a Methylobacterium host-phage system in the literature.
Standard agar overlay of a range of existing Methylobacterium isolates already available in the lab or sourced from culture collections and collaborators to screen range of environmental samples (water, soil extracts, leaf washings etc) for presence of phages using plaque assays.
Induction of temperate (prophages) from Methylobacterium strains, e.g. using mitomycin C.Transmission electron microscope imaging of phage particles.Phage genome sequencing and analysis.Virome analysis of phyllosphere/soil samples using metagenomic sequencing and bioinformatics in parallel with characterisation of microbial community diversity
Marine viruses important players in global warming ?
This PhD Project aims to answer the key question: How do CO2 fixation rates vary in globally important primary producers, Synechococcus and Prochlorococcus, infected by cyanophages. The successful applicant will isolate and analyse a range of cyanophages to determine their ability to alter host CO2 fixation. Furthermore, gain a mechanisitic understanding of this by determining the function of specific genes. This project is multidisciplinary in that it emcompasses both traditional microbiology, molecular biology and bioinformatics, with supervisors in both the Medical School and Life Sciences.