Mar 7, 2007

Research Studentship, Characterising the protein import machinery of Trichomonas vaginalis hydrogenosomes

Applications are invited from students with a suitable qualification in biochemistry (or a related discipline) for a four-year BBSRC-funded studentship entitled “Characterising the protein import machinery of Trichomonas vaginalis hydrogenosomes”. Some deep-branching protozoa lack mitochondria, but have unusual ATP-producing organelles such as hydrogenosomes in Trichomonas vaginalis, a human-infective parasite. Mitochondria and T. vaginalis hydrogenosomes probably share a single endosymbiotic origin from a eubacterium. Critical events during the conversion of the eubacterial endosymbiont into an organelle were 1) transfer of endosymbiont genes to the host nucleus, and 2) evolution of an apparatus to translocate nuclear-encoded proteins. Most mitochondrial and all hydrogenosomal proteins are post-translationally translocated into the respective organelles during biogenesis, in processes that appear to be compatible. The specific project aims are to identify, isolate and characterise the outer membrane translocases that conduct protein import into hydrogenosomes. These will be compared with the mitochondrial equivalents that are well characterised in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We shall apply and develop a combination of genetic, biochemical, structural, proteomic and bioinformatics-based techniques to achieve these aims. The ultimate objectives are to understand the evolution of these organelles and to define common principles of protein import.

This project will be jointly supervised by Dr S Dyall and Dr I Kerr. Further information is available at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/biomedsci/cbcb.

The successful student will be registered for a PhD (MPhil in the first instance) and will be affiliated with the Centre for Biochemistry and Cell Biology.

This studentship is available for a period of four years and provides a postgraduate stipend of £12,600 per annum.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Dr S Dyall, tel: 0115 823 0102 or Email: Sabrina.Dyall@Nottingham.ac.uk.

Applications, with a detailed CV and the names and addresses of three referees, should be sent to Dr S Dyall, School of Biomedical Sciences, Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2UH.

Reference : MED128
Closing Date : Monday 26 March 2007

http://jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/vacancies.aspx?cat=345#j1369

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