Project title: ESR3: siRomics for universal diagnostics of plant viral disease and virus diversity studies. We are looking for a PhD student with a strong background (master/diploma) in bioinformatics and molecular biology. We shall apply next generation sequencing and bioinformatics to identify and characterize viral pathogens of field crops, grapevines, fruit trees, vegetables and ornamentals in Switzerland.
Description
Existing methods of viral diagnostics using antibodies and PCR often fail to identify a pathogen. To identify and reconstruct complete viral genomes, we will use a siRNA omics (siRomics) method based on deep sequencing and de novo assembly of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) which are produced in all virus-infected plants by the evolutionarily-conserved RNA silencing machinery. The main advantage of this method is that it allows fast and reliable characterization of the genomes of newly emerging pathogenic viruses or viral strains and the genetic variation and evolution of viral populations in changing environment. Owing to the global climate changes we expect to detect new viruses that normally occur far away from Switzerland. This study will also be informative for further understanding the mechanisms of RNA silencing-based antiviral defense and for developing novel strategies of virus control such as RNA-based vaccination.
Additional Job Details
www.swissplantscienceweb.ch/nc/research/home/portfolio/pooggin
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