Application call (including how to apply): https://titulus.unifi.it/albo/viewer?view=files%2F005111434-UNFICLE-112b1048-f90c-4d20-a5c5-9b0c12c6b300-000.pdf
Job Description:
The research will be based on the generation and/or integration of - omics data for the comprehension of resistance mechanisms of pathogens. For the project, NGS (genomics and transcriptomic) will be used to characterize the resistant strains and a large spectrum of antibiotics. The research program consists in the selection, characterization and/or analysis of mutant strains resistant to known antibiotics. The candidate will work on mutant strains (also available from previous experiments) through NGS and bioinformatic pipelines. Particular relevance will be given to the planning, execution and analysis of experiments that will exploit the exposure to difference concentrations of antibiotics and the identification of mutations capable of conferring antibiotic resistance. To this purpose, different methods of cultivation will be used, such growth on plates, microplates and/or microfermentation. This may also lead to the generation of NGS libraries, their sequencing through the Illumina platform (genome and/or transcriptomic sequencing) and the downstream analysis through bioiformatic pipelines. The project supporting this call also envision the analysis of metabolomic data obtained from the same strains and their integration with the genome-scale metabolic models of the corresponding strains, using constraint-based technologies (e.g. Flux Balance Analysis) and/or dynamic modelling. In this sense, the tight relationship between microbial metabolism and resistance/exposure to antibiotics will be eventually investigated. Pathogenesis-related phenotypes (e.g. Quorum Sensing) may represent additional aspects that will be investigated during this project.
The team:
Our research group (ComBo, Dep. of Biology, University of Florence) offers a very relaxed and friendly environment. The group is very heterogeneous and combines both experimentalists and computational biologists. At the same time, the group is very motivated, currently involved in many national and international collaborations and possesses a strong track-record in systems biology, bioinformatics, microbial ecology and bacterial genetics.
Requirements:
Application deadline:
23/08/2023
Position starting from:
01/10/2023
Contact:
Marco Fondi marco.fondi@unifi.it