Missions

Infectious disease is often the major selective agent in nature, and we cannot understand how populations evolve without understanding their pathogenic microbes. Beyond host immunity, an important factor determining the ability of pathogens to invade and proliferate in a host is the resident microbiota, but we are only beginning to glimpse its multifarious impacts. We know even less about interactions among pathogenic microbes themselves. Any effort to explain how pathogen communities, or pathobiota, develop within a host requires knowledge about the extent to which pathogens engage in competition, commensalism and cooperation, both with other pathogens and the rest of the microbiota. In the PATHOCOM project (https://figshare.com/articles/preprint/PATHOCOM_proposal/13174337), we aim to set up a program that integrates large-scale field observations of microbiota/pathobiota in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana with ultra-high-throughput experimental tests of host-dependent interactions among microbes, allowing for predicting stable pathogen-pathogen-microbiota interactions by modeling. In this context, the engineer position is part of the fourth stage of the PATHOCOM project, which aims to functionally validate (i) bacterial QTLs involved in pathogen-pathogen interactions (Pseudomonas syringae and Xanthomonas campestris), and (ii) QTLs of commensal bacterial strains affecting pathogen-pathogen interactions. This 30-month engineer position is funded by the ERC (European Research Council) and is part of an interdisciplinary and collaborative project with the research groups of Detlef Weigel (Max Planck Institute, Tubingen, Germany) and Joy Bergelson (New-York University, USA).

Activités

In collaboration with three postdoctoral researchers, another engineer, and a technician from the host team, the engineer will be responsible for functionally validating bacterial QTLs involved in pathogen-pathogen interactions, previously identified by members of the host team or by members of the two other partner teams of the ERC PATHOCOM project. To successfully carry out these tasks, the engineer will have to ensure technological monitoring to identify the latest methodologies for the functional validation of QTLs in bacteria and perform the functional validation of around fifty QTLs. In order to validate the effect of the generated transgenic lines in planta, the engineer will also be responsible for organizing plant infections using pipetting robots.

Compétences

Applicants should have a very solid experience in microbiology, bacterial genetics, and in vitro culture (microbes and plants). Skills in manipulating pipetting robots and in handling large datasets will be a plus. Fluent English is required.

Contexte de travail

The LIPM offers an excellent scientific environment of teams working on plant-microbe or plant-plant interactions (https://en.lipme.fr/). As a member of the LabEx (Laboratory of Excellence) TULIP (https://www.labex-tulip.fr/labex-tulip_eng/) and of the FR AIB Research Federation (http://www.fraib.fr/), the LIPME also benefits from key interactions with other relevant plant and ecology labs, local facilities and platforms (including in imagery and high-throughput phenotyping).
For more information about the ECOGEN team: https://en.lipme.fr/ecogen-1

Contraintes et risques

The engineer will be located at the LIPME. He/she might have to spend every year short stays (2-4 weeks) in the research groups of Detlef Weigel and Joy Bergelson. The laboratory is governed by internal regulations.