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THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT
FACULTY OF LIFE SCIENCES
Research associate – Microbiology/plant biology/bioinformatics/molecular genetics
(Ref: LS/XXXXX)
1
The University invites applications for the above post which is available from 1/04/2015
and tenable for 36 months subject to the satisfactory completion of a probationary
period.
2
Salary will be within the range £30,434 - £35,256 per annum, depending on
experience.
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Informal enquiries should be made to: Simon Turner. Tel: 0161 275 5751 or email:
simon.turner@manchester.ac.uk
4
Applications should be made on line. If you are unable to apply on line please request
an application form by emailing hrservices@manchester.ac.uk quoting the reference
number or by calling 0161 275 4499 (HR team recruitment line number). To ensure full
consideration applications should be completed by 6th February 2015, but applications
will be accepted after this time.
5
The University of Manchester values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications
from all sections of the community.
Job title: Research Associate
Salary: Grade 6 (currently starting £30,343 - £33,242p.a.)
Start/duration: Tenable for up to 3 years
Probation period: 9 months
Based at: The University of Manchester
Responsible to: Professor Simon Turner
Project Title: Exploiting microbial metagenomics to alter plant cell wall composition
Project Description
Background
There is increasing interest in exploring the use of plant biomass as a source or renewable
feedstock for the production of chemicals and biofuels. To avoid competition with food this
biomass is likely to crop and forestry residues or dedicated energy crops grown and while the
may have the advantage of very high yields the bulk of this material is composed of
secondary cell walls. These woody secondary cell wall are laid down once the plant has
stopped growing and while they are essential for mechanical support and long distance water
transport their composition make them recalcitrant to breakdown.
Attempts to reduce the recalcitrance of biomass by altering lignin content and/or composition
have resulted in significant improvements, but plants with severely altered lignin often exhibit
very large reductions in growth so limiting the extent to which lignin maybe altered in this
way. A potential means of obtaining much greater increases in cell wall digestibility and yield
comes from the study of tension that is laid down by trees in response to being tipped.
Tension wood is composed of secondary cell walls that contain a G layer that largely
replaces the normal secondary cell wall. These G-layers exhibit a very high cellulose content,
little lignin and are very thick. One recent study demonstrated that tension wood resulted in a
250% increase in cell wall sugars release compared to normal wood.
Some infections of trees dramatically alter the mechanical properties of the wood found in
symptomatic areas of the tree. Our recent data using Raman imaging confirms previous
reports that the symptoms of infections resemble that of tension wood formation with infected
regions exhibiting a very thick inner layer of secondary cell wall that is rich in cellulose
closely resembling the G-layer seen during tension wood formation. The absence of lignin
means the wall loose their composite structure that results in the greater flexibility of the cell
wall and hence the branches. Based upon recent data from other plant pathogen that alter
the host phenotype we hypothesise that the causative agent encodes an effector that brings
about these changes by altering the levels of a key regulatory gene that controls G-layer
formation in apple.
Several effector proteins from different pathogens have recently been identified and have
revealed how pathogens are able to cause quite dramatic alteration in plant growth. To date,
however, the symptoms caused by these pathogens are largely of academic interest. In this
study we believe understanding how the pathogen effect changes to plant growth can
provide a means of understanding how to alter trees, and possibly also other crops, in a way
that has the potential to dramatically improve their productivity and the ease with which we
can process them. Microbial communities represent an untapped natural resource that can
be exploited to design novel strategies for improving the productivity of crop plants. This
proposal represents a proof of concept study that aims to demonstrate the potential of this
approach.
Objectives
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Optimise method for monitoring microbial population in trees.
Use comparative data from replicon sequencing to identify microbes that may be the
causative agent of RWD.
Obtain the sequence of the RWD infectious agent and identify potential effectors
responsible for RWD symptoms.
Test potential effectors in plants.
Studentship
A PhD studentship was also funded as part of this project, who will be expected to work
together with the RA, in a complementary approach the studentship will look at what
happens in the plant on infection by the pathogen.
Background Information:
The
project
will
be
supervised
by
Professor
Simon
Turner
(http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/people/profile/Default.aspx?alias=turners,
http://turner.lab.ls.manchester.ac.uk),
in
the
Faculty
of
Life
Sciences
(http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk) at Manchester. The Faculty is one of the largest and most
successful research and teaching organisations of its kind in Europe (see
http://www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/ for more details). It supports an extremely wide
range of top International research, without the constraints of traditional 'departmental'
boundaries, allowing for a highly interactive research environment with the centralised
provision of state-of-the-art equipment. This includes dedicated core facilities such as the
bioimaging, genomic technologies facilities, which will provide excellent support for this
project. The Faculty operates a career development programme for postdocs, which includes
workshops and training programmes together with regular discussion groups. There are
many regular seminar series covering a wide range of topics and given by internationally
renowned scientists.
Overall Purpose of the Job:
New developments in sequencing technology have a facilitated characterisation of individual
microorganisms without the need to culture them. This project will identify and characterize
the infectious agent of rubbery wood disease to understand how it is able to affect such
remarkable changes to the plant.
Key Responsibilities, Accountabilities or Duties:
The duties and responsibilities of the role, which may be adjusted to reflect changing
research needs include:






Generating and analysing amplicon sequencing data to identify pathogenic agent.
Interaction with key core facilities including genomic technologies and
bioinformatics
Analysis of next generation sequencing data for microbial genome analysis.
Cloning and generation constructs and plant transformation.
Produce work of suitable quality for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
To publish research findings in leading journals.


To present material at national and international conferences.
A willingness to contribute to the relevant practical and academic activities of the
Lab., and Manchester University, including active participation in group meetings,
seminars, local and external symposia and conferences.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
Essential Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
The successful candidate will be expected to be a highly motivated and enthusiastic
individual, and should:
 Hold or expect to hold shortly a PhD (or equivalent) in microbiology, molecular
biology, bioinformatics molecular genetics, plant science or a closely related field.
 Experience of general molecular biology and biochemistry
 Experience in at least one of the following areas; molecular genetics, data analysis
from next generation sequencing, plant expression analysis, plant or microbial
molecular genetics.
 Be able to develop and refine techniques and experimental approaches
 Be able to work as part of a team and interact with collaborators
 Experience of publishing research results
 Be able to independently manage your own research on a day-to-day basis
 Have good communication skills
 Have good organisational and time management skills
 Motivation to pursue a career in scientific research
 Be fluent in written and spoken English
 A willingness to learn and develop and help with the supervision of other lab
members
 A willingness to make constructive contributions to the management and
maintenance of laboratory infrastructure.
Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Some familiarity with the next generation sequencing, bioinformatics and microbiology or
plant molecular genetics.
The above particulars are intended as a general guide to the duties of the post and the
conditions of service. They do not constitute a contract of employment between the
University and the person appointed. The successful applicant will, however, receive a full
set of conditions of service on appointment.