PhD Student
PhD position (Epigenetics & Nuclear Dynamics): Epigenetics of a Lifetime Body-Size Memory in Drosophila Full-time
Thinking of doing your PhD in Molecular Biology? The International PhD Programme (IPP) on Gene Regulation, Epigenetics & Genome Stability is offering talented, young scientists the chance to work at the cutting edge of research. The IPP is a community of exceptional scientists working on diverse topics ranging from how organisms age or how our DNA is repaired, to how epigenetics regulates cellular identity or neural memory.
The programme is coordinated by the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) — a modern research centre located on the bustling campus of Mainz University in Germany. With a population of 200,000, of which about 40,000 are students, the city of Mainz is charming and open-minded and is within easy reach of cosmopolitan Frankfurt, the Rhine valley region with its castles, vineyards, and nature reserves, and the equally picturesque cities of Wiesbaden and Heidelberg. With Frankfurt airport – the largest airport in mainland Europe – only 20 minutes away, countless European and overseas destinations are within easy reach.
Activities and responsibilities:
In the field of “Epigenetics & Nuclear Dynamics”, the IPP research group of Prof Dr Roland Strauss offers the following PhD project:
Epigenetics of a Lifetime Body-Size Memory in Drosophila
One fundamental question in memory research is how experiences can be transformed into memory traces that persist over a long time, maybe a lifetime. Memories are encoded into neurons as changes in synaptic transmission efficacy and through structural changes by the addition or pruning of synaptic connections. In the light of constant turnover of proteins in living cells, it is hard to conceive how the plastic changes are consolidated to last for days or even weeks. One hypothesis put forward to explain remote memories is that epigenetic mechanisms could convey persistence of long-lasting storage. We have put this hypothesis to test by genetically manipulating epigenetic factors in neurons that encode a lifetime memory for body size in the Drosophila model system. After eclosion, a Drosophila fly learns and consolidates a memory about its own body size and reach. We have shown that naïve flies do not know their body reach and try to surmount a gap that exceeds their reach by far. However, naïve flies can be trained with zebra-striped patterns to build a wrong body-size memory that seems to last for a lifetime. We could identify a set of 18 neurons per hemisphere, that jointly innervate the protocerebral bridge in the central complex of the brain. These neurons require activation of the transcriptional regulator dCREB2 to establish body-size memory. To perpetuate elevated expression levels of dCREB2 targets, epigenetic mechanisms seem to take action. To address the hypothesis, we initiated a pilot study using RNA-interference (RNAi) mediated knockdown of 61 genes encoding epigenetic factors and chromatin remodelers in the relevant neurons. To date, we have identified 11 candidate genes required for body-size memory formation; however, their role in life-long memory maintenance has not been established yet.
PhD project
The goal of this project is to extent our analysis on the contribution of epigenetic factors to maintain a lifetime memory. The successful candidate will perform cell-specific, conditional RNAi-mediated knockdowns or CRISPR/Cas9-induced cell-specific conditional knockouts of candidate genes in flies 3 days after training. Behavioral test and histological (LSM) analysis will reveal whether challenging the epigenetic machinery after memory consolidation affects memory maintenance.
What we offer:
· Exciting, interdisciplinary projects in a fully international environment, with English as our working language
· Advanced training in scientific techniques and professional skills
· Access to our state-of-the-art Core Facilities and their technical expertise
· Fully funded positions with financing until the completion of your thesis.
· A lively community of more than 140 PhD students from 40 different countries
Requirements:
Are you an ambitious, young scientist looking to push the boundaries of science while interacting with colleagues from multiple disciplines and cultures? Then the IPP is your opportunity to give your scientific career a flying start!
We seek enthusiastic candidates with a special interest in the following topics:
· Ageing & Disease
· Bioinformatics & Computational Biology
· DNA Repair & Genome Stability
· Epigenetics & Nuclear Dynamics
· Gene Regulation & Evolution
· RNA Biology
Further requirements:
Master or equivalent
Interactive personality & good command of English
2 letters of reference
For more details on the projects offered and how to apply via our online form, please visit
The deadline for applications is 27 November 2020. Interviews will take place in Mainz on 25-27 January 2021 if the pandemic situation allows. Otherwise we will inform selected candidates in due time about an alternative online programme.
Starting date: 1 March 2021 – 1 September 2021