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The UEA is a world-leading place to study...
https://www.uea.ac.uk/biological-sciences
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https://www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/student-life/living-in-norwich
Please get in contact if you are interested in discussing opportunities to come and work with us.
email: tracey.chapman@uea.ac.uk

Potential PhD projects:
Animal-microbe symbioses in pest insects
Supervisors: Tracey Chapman, Philip Leftwich
Sequencing technologies have fuelled a rapid rise in descriptions of microbial communities associated with hosts, but what is often harder to ascertain is the evolutionary significance of these symbioses. In recent research we found that mixed modes of microbial transmission play an underappreciated role in the establishment of animal host-microbe relationships. The goal of this project is to test this idea empirically and thus define fundamental rules governing such associations.
The project uses the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly, Ceratitis capitata) and its putative stable gut symbiont Klebsiella oxytoca. This represents a powerful system in which the composition of the symbiotic microbiome can be experimentally manipulated in multiple ways. The project applies a combination of metagenomics, transmission studies, forward genetics and modelling, to test the mechanisms which promote host-symbiont associations.
The project aims to (i) test the transmission mechanisms that facilitate gut colonisation by symbionts, (ii) determine the extent of, and mechanisms underlying, host fitness benefits, and (iii) conduct genome-wide screens to identify essential genes of symbiotic bacteria required for colonisation and mutualism in medfly.
References:
Leftwich PT, Edgington MP & Chapman T. (2020) Transmission efficiency drives host-microbe associations. Proc Roy Soc B accepted. bioRxiv 2020.07.23.216366; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.23.216366
Leftwich PT*, Nash, WJ*, Friend LA, & Chapman T. (2019) Contribution of maternal effects to dietary selection in the medfly. Evolution, 73: 278-292.
Leftwich PT, Hutchings MI & Chapman T. (2018) Diet, gut microbes and mate choice: understanding the significance of microbiome effects on host mate choice requires a case by case evaluation. BioEssays, 40: 1800053.
Please contact me if you are interested in discussing further!
tracey.chapman@uea.ac.uk
