Research Associate in Microbiome Engineering for Bioremediation

The University of Manchester; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Manchester seeks a researcher for a project focused on bioremediation through engineering microbial communities. This role involves developing plasmids to enhance gene transfer and working collaboratively in a cutting-edge research environment. Candidates should have a strong background in microbiology, preferably holding a PhD, and possess skills in bioinformatics and microbial engineering.

Benefits

Market leading Pension scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement plus bank holidays

Paid closure over the Christmas period

Local and national discounts at major retailers

Qualifications

• Experience in microbial research and engineering.
• Familiarity with plasmid-mediated systems and bioremediation techniques.
• Strong collaborative skills for working with cross-disciplinary teams.

Responsibilities

• Conduct research on microbial communities for bioremediation.
• Design and deploy engineered plasmids for HGT.
• Collaborate with postdocs using complementary research approaches.

Skills

Microbial engineering

Bioinformatics

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT)

Education

PhD in Microbiology or related field

Job description

BACKGROUND

Working within Manchester Institute of Biotechnology under the supervision of Professors Neil Dixon and Michael Brockhurst, the post is funded by the BBSRC project "How does plasmid-chromosome crosstalk influence the spread of genes through complex microbial communities? This project is in collaboration with Professor Jacob Malone (Project-PI) at the John Innes Institute and Dr Jamie Hall at Liverpool University. In this project we are interrogating how plasmid-chromosome crosstalk (PCC) impacts plasmid-mediated horizontal gene transfer (HGT) efficiency of in situ engineering of a soil microbiome with a synthetic bioremediation operon.

Harnessing in situ microbial communities to clean-up polluted natural environments is a potentially efficient means of bioremediation, but often the necessary genes to breakdown pollutants are missing. Genetic bioaugmentation, whereby the required genes are delivered to resident bacteria via horizontal gene transfer, offers a promising solution to this problem ( https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.70071 ). Naturally, plasmid-mediated HGT drives evolutionary innovation by enabling bacteria to gain new functions, plasmids also naturally encode a diverse array of regulators that have evolved expressly to manipulate expression of host traits for the plasmid's benefit, via a process known as PCC. Such PCCs can drive plasmid spread through microbiomes even in the absence of direct selection for plasmid-encoded traits, potentially allowing valuable functions to be efficiently engineered into native microbiomes in situ. In this project, we will determine how PCC regulators affect the efficiency of in situ engineering of a soil microbiome with a synthetic operon for the bioremediation of industry pollutants.

Overall Purpose of the Job

You will be responsible for conducting research under the supervision of Profs Dixon and Brockhurst to engineer the microbial communities from soil to enable in situ bioremediation of industry pollutants. You will be responsible for the design, construction and deployment of engineered plasmids to support the delivery of beneficial traits, via HGT, through soil microbiome communities. You will work closely with other postdocs on this project, who will be applying complimentary approaches to the same systems (including bioinformatic mining and in vitro characterisation of new PCC regulators.

Interviews for this role will take place w/c 18th of August.

What you will get in return:

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we support an inclusive working environment and welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working - you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.

Any CV's submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Professor Neil Dixon

Email: [e-mail]

General enquiries:

Email: [e-mail]

Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.

Please be aware that due to the number of applications we are unfortunately not able to provide individual feedback on your application.