<html><body><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><div><div><p style="margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #1f497d;" data-mce-style="color: #1f497d;">------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></p><p style="margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #1f497d;" data-mce-style="color: #1f497d;"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 17.0pt; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: .15pt; background: white;" data-mce-style="font-size: 17.0pt; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: .15pt; background: white;">PhD projects@JCU on shrimp aquaculture and evolutionary genomics:</span> <span style="font-size: 17.0pt; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: .15pt; background: white;" data-mce-style="font-size: 17.0pt; color: #292f33; letter-spacing: .15pt; background: white;"> <span class="Object"><span class="Object"><span class="Object" id="OBJ_PREFIX_DWT474_com_zimbra_url"><a href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/itrh-apb/vacancies" target="_blank" data-mce-href="https://research.jcu.edu.au/itrh-apb/vacancies">https://research.jcu.edu.au/itrh-apb/vacancies</a></span></span></span> </span><span style="color: #1f497d;" data-mce-style="color: #1f497d;"></span></p><p style="margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px;"><span style="color: #1f497d;" data-mce-style="color: #1f497d;"> </span></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">We are looking for students with skills in genomics, transcriptomics and evolutionary bioinformatics for the following projects:</span></b></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;"> </span></b></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">Project 5 - Functional transcriptomics of viral infection in the black tiger prawn</span></b></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">(James Cook University and CSIRO)</span></i><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;"></span></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">This project will examine whether the manner in which a black tiger prawn (<i>Penaeus monodon</i>) is challenged with Gill-associated virus (GAV) affects what defence response pathways can be activated to protect the prawn against infection/disease. Essential components of the project will be GAV challenge trials in <i>P. monodon</i> and the generation and interrogation of RNAseq data to identify/predict genes and gene pathways activated in response to GAV challenge via the various infection routes examined. Silencing of gene expression using RNA interference (RNAi) will also be employed to further explore the functioning of genes predicted to have pivotal roles in the prawn defence response.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">The desired candidate will preferably have a background in molecular genetics along with skills in next-generation sequencing approaches and computational analyses.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________</span></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">Project 6 - Comparative, evolutionary and functional genomics of the black tiger prawn</span></b></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><i><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">(University of Sydney & James Cook University)</span></i><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;"></span></p><p style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;" data-mce-style="line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">This project will be a component of the full genome assembly of an inbred black tiger prawn (<i>Penaeus monodon</i>) based on a combination of short-read sequences and standard mate-pair end Illumina together with the use of long-read sequencing data based on PacBio, HiC, Nanopore platforms for improved hybrid assembly (scaffold/chromosome level). After the genome is annotated thoroughly, the project will aim to find syntenic blocks and reconstruct the evolutionary history of Decapods/crustaceans by comparing the <i>P. monodon</i> genome to the genomes of <i>Daphnia</i>, <i>Artemia</i>, <i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i> and potentially of other decapods/crustaceans.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;" data-mce-style="margin: 0px; line-height: 11.5pt; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% white;"><span style="color: black;" data-mce-style="color: black;">The desired candidate will preferably have a background in molecular genetics along with skills in next-generation sequencing approaches and computational analyses. <br></span></p></div><div><br></div></div><div><br></div><div>-- <br></div><div><span name="x"></span><span style="font-size: small;" data-mce-style="font-size: small;" size="2"><span style="color: #000444;" data-mce-style="color: #000444;" color="444"><b> Stephane Rombauts</b></span><br> Senior staff scientist<br>Tel:+32 (0)9 331 38 21<br><div><br></div><b><span style="color: #006600;" data-mce-style="color: #006600;" color="#006600">Department of Plant Systems Biology</span></b><br>VIB, Ghent University<br>Technologiepark 927<br>9052 Ghent, Belgium<br><a href="http://www.psb.ugent.be">http://www.psb.ugent.be</a><br><div><br></div></span><a href="http://www.psb.ugent.be"><img src="cid:aaa106b0c8b9c41f105949b4182bf2f4c283404e@zimbra" height="69" width="458"></a><span name="x"></span><br></div></div></body></html>