Aureobasidium pullulans is a ubiquitous, poly-extremotolerant fungus with a great application potential in industry, agriculture, and for bioremediation. This fungus is not only interesting due to its application potential, but it also possesses an outstanding morphological plasticity i.e., it can grow in different cell types depending on several external stimuli and conditions (Fig 1).
This morphological plasticity is considered to contribute to this fungus’ adaptability and stress tolerance, and to have implications on the application potential. Surprisingly, only extraordinarily little is known about the corresponding regulatory network in A. pullulans.
In this position, you will work together with another PhD student to untangle this regulatory network. Recently, we have established a CRISPR-based genome editing technique, which you will use to delete genes known to influence the morphology in other fungi with the aim to create “locked phenotypes” i.e., strains that cannot switch between the different forms anymore.
You will then cultivate these strains in a large-scale, multivariate experiment. The samples will be analyzed using “omics” methods and assessed by state-of-the-art bioinformatics.
Your profile: Msc in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or a similar field. Experiences with yeasts or fungi are an advantage but not required. You are eager to learn new methods and are interested in solving nature’s puzzles. TU Wien and the project leader are promoting gender equity in science and encourage especially women, non-binary, and trans persons to apply.
We offer:
- 3.5-year contract as project assistant (30h/week) at TU Wien.
- Gross income of EUR 2,464.80 per month (14 times a year) according to the guidelines of the funding agency (Austrian Science Fund, FWF).
- 5 weeks paid holiday per year, health insurance, and other benefits.
- Supervision and mentoring by an advisor team comprised of experts in Molecular Biology, (Bio)informatics, Transcriptomics, and Proteomics.
- Learning-opportunity for state-of-the-art techniques in molecular biology and bioinformatics.
To apply: Please contact the project leader Dr. Christian Zimmermann (previously Derntl, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6440-2100, öffnet eine externe URL in einem neuen Fenster) for questions and to apply with a scientific CV and at least one letter of recommendation until 31.7.2023 per email: christian.zimmermann@tuwien.ac.at