How do phages kill dormant bacteria

Descrizione

How do phages kill dormant bacteria Sintesi in italiano (traduzione automatica): L'organizzazione cerca un ricercatore in microbiologia per un progetto di dottorato finanziato da un grant NWO-M2, da svolgersi presso il dipartimento di microbiologia molecolare della VU. Il candidato si occuperà di studiare come i fagi possano replicarsi in batteri dormienti, utilizzando screening fenotipici ad alta capacità e strumenti genetici avanzati. Le mansioni principali includono la generazione di mutanti genomici, screening fenotipici, verifica mirata dei risultati e progettazione di fagi attivi contro patogeni chiave come E. coli uropatogeno e M. tuberculosis. È richiesta una laurea in biologia, microbiologia o un campo correlato. La posizione prevede anche attività di insegnamento e supervisione di studenti. La data di inizio è flessibile tra il 1 settembre 2026 e il 1 dicembre 2026. Scientific background : If you take a bus, you probably want the driver to be awake. Similarly, bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) have long been assumed to require metabolically active hosts. However, several recent studies and our own findings challenge this assumption. We have identified over a dozen phages capable of replicating in growth-arrested E. coli, suggesting that dormancy-killing is far more common than previously recognized. How do phages replicate in dormant cells? The phages we discovered are genetically diverse and differentially respond to bacterial knock-outs, pointing to multiple, evolutionarily distinct solutions to this challenge. Project: you will integrate high-throughput phenotypic screening with state-of-the-art genetic tools to understand how phages bypass bacterial dormancy. Furthermore, you will engineer these genes into phages that lack this capability, expanding their activity towards persistent bacterial populations. Impact: Your work will reveal fundamental new mechanisms in phage biology and has urgent clinical relevance: uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), a leading cause of recurrent urinary tract infections, and M. tuberculosis (Mtb), which evades antibiotics by entering dormancy, both exemplify the medical challenge of treating persistent infections. By developing novel phages active against dormant UPEC and Mtb, you will provide powerful new therapeutic options for the world’s most frequent and most deadly infections Embedding: Your PhD project is funded by an NWO-M2 grant, supervised by Yuval Mulla (VU) and co-supervised by Coen Kuijl (VUmc). You will be embedded in the molecular microbiology department of the VU and will closely collaborate with a PhD student at the medical microbiology section of the Amsterdam UMC. The start date is flexible between September 1, 2026, and December 1, 2026. Your duties Genome-wide mutant generation (transposon library, CRISPR-I) to find phage genes involved in dormancy-killing High-throughput phenotypic screening (imaging-based) Targeted verification of hits via molecular cloning Isolation and design of dormancy-killing phages against key pathogens (UPEC, Mtb) Contributing to publications and presentations Teaching (supervision of interns and of groups of students in practical courses) Annuncio in inglese. Fonte: Euraxess (Commissione europea).