BBSRC Research Experience Studentships at the Quadram Institute Bioscience for the summer of 2018

The Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB) has one BBSRC Research Experience Studentship available for the summer of 2018. The Research Experience Placement (REP) scheme provides support for undergraduate summer research placements. REPs are designed to:

• Give promising undergraduates a first-hand opportunity to gain greater experience of research in Biosciences.
• Raise the profile of research careers amongst undergraduate students.
• Interest students in postgraduate research in strategically important areas for BBSRC.

Applications are now open. The deadline for applications is Friday 27^th April, 2018. Applications need to include curriculum vitae, contact details of referees and a personal statement, and should be submitted using the application form.

Eligibility of students

Selected students must be:

• In the middle year(s) of their first degree studies.
• Registered for a basic science (including mathematics and engineering) or veterinary degree.
• Registered at a UK university.
• Expected to obtain a first or upper second class UK honours degree.

Preference will be given to students who wish to use the placement to find out more about their suitability and aptitude for further research, particularly if the project is in an area of science different from their main subject area.

Duration

Each REP is for up to 10 weeks during the summer vacation.

Support costs

The REP placement comes with a stipend of £200 per week to the student, and a contribution that goes to the host supervisor towards research expenses for the placement.

Reporting and payments

The student and the awarding research group are required to submit a brief report on the outcome of the REP to BBSRC within three months of completion of the placement.

Placement opportunities for Summer 2018

1. How do wheat starch mutants store energy in their leaves? Starch is the major component of wheat grains, and starch that is resistant to digestion (resistant starch) contributes to dietary fibre which can deliver many health benefits. In prior studies we successfully developed wheat with 7 to 10-fold increases in resistant starch using induced mutations in starch branching enzyme II (sbeii) genes.  However, preliminary data and observations from field trials of the sbeii mutants suggests there may be negative impacts on agronomic performance including reductions in grain yield, reduced plant growth, premature senescence of leaves and increased susceptibility to animal feeding. This is important to understand because any penalties in crop performance will make it challenging to deploy new resistant starch traits in commercially recommended wheat varieties. To better understand the negative impacts observed in the field, this project aims to understand the effect of sbeii mutations on starch metabolism in the leaves of wheat plants and possible consequences on plant fitness. For further information contact Dr Brittany Hazard
2. Effect of emulsion droplet size on gastric digestion. Beyond nutrient content, food structure has been demonstrated to have a significant impact on nutrition and health. The stomach phase plays a critical role in nutrient metabolism since it modulates the rate of nutrient delivery and absorption through gastric emptying. Therefore, understanding the behaviour of food in the stomach is key to control nutrient availability in order to optimise human nutritional requirements.  The aim of the proposed project is to investigate the impact of the properties of fat (e.g. droplet size) in protein stabilised emulsions on gastric digestion. The student will use relevant in vitro digestion models and learn a range of physical and biochemical techniques that will help them to understand how food structure breakdown during digestion can impact nutrition and health. For more details, contact Prof. Pete Wilde
3. Characterisation of a novel Salmonella plasmid carrying a tsr-like gene. Salmonellosis is a food-born illness caused by the pathogenic bacteria Salmonella enterica. Like other pathogenic bacteria, Salmonella relies on an array of virulence mechanism to successfully invade their host and establish disease. The Kingsley group has recently identified a novel plasmid carrying mobilisation genes and a putative chemotaxis gene. We hypothesise that this new chemotaxis gene may be involved in nitrate sensing and may provide a fitness advantage to strains harbouring it. The successful applicant will join an energetic and collaborative lab where they will learn an array of molecular biology techniques as well as bioinformatic approaches to characterise the new plasmid and gene, and study their incidence across Salmonella isolates. For more details, contact Dr Rob Kinglsey
4. Assessing the impact of resistant starch on the cross-feeding of human gut symbionts. The human gut is colonised by a large and diverse community of microorganisms, collectively called the gut microbiota, that plays an important role in human health. One of the beneficial functions of the gut microbiota is the degradation of complex carbohydrates, like resistant starch (RS),  that reach the colon undigested and the subsequent release of short-chain fatty which provide energy to colonic epithelial cells. Only a few specialised bacteria are able to degrade and utilise RS. Using model organisms, the student will test the hypothesis that the degradation of RS by specialised bacteria result in cross-feeding with other members of the gut microbiota and affect metabolite production in vivo.  The student will assess starch degradation in gnotobiotic mouse and correlate these results to metabolic and transcriptomic data. During the internship, the student will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from post-docs and PhD students in the team and collaborate with other Groups within the Institute. For more details, contact Dr Emmanuelle Crost
5. Bioinformatics analysis of gut metagenomic databasets. In this project, the student will use bioinformatics techniques to interrogate microbial DNA sequence data obtained from human gut/fecal samples. The principal aim is to investigate incidence of particular classes of bacterial genes which are involved in carbohydrate degradation, specifically relating to host mucus degradation. It is hypothesized that overrepresentation of some variants of these genes in particular bacterial species are associated with inflammatory bowel diseases. The project will use publicly available datasets from patients and control subjects to investigate possible associations. For more details, contact Dr Andrea Telatin

Further information on the summer placement can be obtained from Dr Paul Kroon