The PhD student will work on a project that aims to understand and manipulate substrate utilisation by the mushroom producing fungus Agaricus bisporus. The emphasis of the project will be on gene expression and regulation, enzyme production and identification, and physiology. Experience in at least one of those disciplines is required as well as a high level of motivation and good teamworking skills.
Description
The Fungal Biodiversity Centre (CBS) is an independent research institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, situated on the campus of the largest university in the Netherlands (Utrecht). It studies fungal biodiversity in the widest sense, focusing on three priority areas, agriculture, human health, and industry (indoor air and food). Presently there are 5 research groups with a total of about 80 employees. The institute maintains a large culture collection of fungi and yeasts, and research groups such as those of Pedro Crous (Evolutionary Phytopathology), Robert Samson (Applied and Industrial Mycology), Sybren de Hoog (Origins of Pathogenicity in Clinical Fungi), Teun Boekhout (Yeast and Basidiomycete Research), Ronald de Vries (Fungal Physiology) and Vincent Robert (Bioinformatics). Additional information is available on our website: www.cbs.knaw.nl.
The CBS invites applications for:
Phd- Student, full time (38 hours/week) to work on:
How mushrooms feed on sugars: Analysing the molecular mechanism behind gene expression and enzyme production related to utilisation of polysaccharides
Description of the project:
The white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus is produced and consumed at large scale. It is low in fat and rich in protein and fibre. Moreover, it contains vitamins, minerals and bioactive compounds such as anti-cancer polysaccharides. The white button mushroom is produced on compost made of straw and horse manure. The process of composting and growth of the white button mushroom is a near black box. For instance, it is not known which sugar components are converted (and which are not) and when this takes place in the process.
The aim of this project is to understand and improve the degradation of the sugars in the substrate during composting and growth of the white button mushroom. This will be done by analysis of the genome of the white button mushroom and its activity, and identification of enzymes that are involved in substrate degradation during composting and growth of Agaricus bisporus. Within the project, the PhD student will in particular focus on genome annotation and analysis of gene expression and enzyme activity during different stages of the lifecycle of agaricus.
Requirements: The highly motivated candidate should have an MSc degree, excellent communication and social skills and affinity with fungal physiology. Knowledge of standard molecular laboratory techniques such as gDNA isolation, PCR, cloning and sequencing is required.
Duration: Four years.
Benefits
Salary: According to “CAO-Nederlandse universiteiten” (CAO-NU): € 2.042,- in the first year, increasing to € 2.612,- in the fourth year, excluding 8% holiday allowance and a 8.3 % year-end bonus.
http://www.cbs.knaw.nl/vacancies/73/PhD%20student%20(CBS%202010-09).pdf
Fungal Physiology – Utrecht
NETHERLANDS
phone +31 302122600
email r.devries@cbs.knaw.nl
www.cbs.knaw.nl
15/09/2010
