Missions

Transposable elements impact the organisation and integrity of the genome and the process of programmed DNA elimination (PDE) in the unicellular ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila through mechanisms involving small non-coding RNAs. To better understand this molecular mechanism, we are using the CRISPR-Cas13d-based gene knock-down method. The work of the recruited person will consist in particular of establishing cytometry sorting methods to separate cells and nuclei (somatic macronuclei MAC and germ micronuclei MIC) that are defective in the different stages of PDE in order to identify and characterise genes not yet described and involved in PDE. The successful candidate will use fluorescence microscopy to document the cells or nuclei sorted by flow cytometry and will also be responsible for maintaining the ciliate strain cultures. Finally, quantitative data analysis will be performed (with statistical processing using R).

Activités

- Flow cytometry: analysis, sorting and processing of spectral data (main)
- Cultures of single-celled eukaryotic ciliate microorganisms under sterile conditions (main)
- Microscopy (phase contrast and fluorescence) (main)
- Quantitative and statistical data analysis using R software (secondary)
- Supervision of students and interns (main)
- Presentation of results to the scientific community (posters and conferences in English) (main)
- Promotion of work in the form of scientific publications (main)

Compétences

- Skills in flow cytometry (mandatory) and microscopy (can be acquired on site)
- Processing of spectral data in flow cytometry
- Skills in microbiology (axenic cultures)
- Quantitative and statistical data analysis with R
- Written and spoken English
- Ability to communicate and interact with other team/laboratory members
- Presentation of scientific results (posters and conferences in English), bibliographic synthesis and participation in writing publications

Contexte de travail

The candidate will work at LCB UMR7283, located on the Joseph Aiguier campus in Marseille's 9th arrondissement.
The project is a collaboration between two laboratories, the Laboratoire de Chimie Bactérienne (LCB) and the Institut de Génétique Humaine (IGH) in Montpellier. The experiments will be carried out on the CNRS campus at J. Aiguier.