Understanding the genetic basis of reproductive strategy in a parasitic nematode system

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The gastrointestinal parasitic nematode, Strongyloides, is an important parasite that infects ~600 million people globally.These parasites have a unique lifecycle that is ideally suited to understanding the genetic and epigenetic basis ofreproduction. The Strongyloides lifecycle alternates between a parasitic adult female generation that reproduces byparthenogenesis and a free-living sexually reproducing male and female generation. The offspring of parthenogenic adultsdevelop into female infective 'iL3' larvae (that will go on to infect a new host) or larvae that develop into sexuallyreproducing adults. All offspring produced by sexually reproducing adults are iL3s. Importantly, adult females in alternategenerations are genetically identical, and both produce iL3 offspring, offering an ideal laboratory model to comparereproductive strategies. This project will investigate differences in the embryos derived from parthenogenic and sexuallyreproducing adult females to understand fundamental principles about reproductive biology. We hypothesise that embryos derived from different reproductive strategies (i) differ in their ability to be a parasitee.g. to successfully infect a host. (ii) express genes, transposable elements and small RNAs at different levels. (iii) and(ii) is directly affected by environmental factors such as temperature, exposure to immune stress, dietary restrictions,and composition of microbial communities they are exposed to.This project will test these hypotheses using a combination of laboratory and bioinformatic skills. The student willreceive full training in all aspects of the project such as parasite culturing and biology, sequencing methods such asRNAseq and small-RNAseq, and bioinformatic analysis of sequence data. The student will benefit from a team ofsupervisors with diverse expertise.This project will be carried out in collaboration with Taisei Kikuchi (University of Tokyo), and the student will haveopportunities to visit Japan as part of their studies and training. Applicants should have a strong first degree or masterswith an interest in parasitology, nematodes, reproductive biology and/or genetics