Finding the “Dark Matter” of Phage Genomes

Project description

Phages are viruses that infect bacteria, and we are using them to treat antibiotic-resistant infections in people. However, most phage genomes contain many genes whose functions are unknown. These “hypothetical proteins” may control how phages infect bacteria, avoid bacterial defences, interact with other phages, or respond to their environment. Before we can inject them into patients, we need to understand what all these unknown proteins do! This project will investigate selected unknown phage proteins and ask whether they have biologically important functions. The project will involve identifying candidate proteins from phage genomes, comparing them with existing databases, assessing their likelihood of interacting with DNA, and helping to generate experimental evidence for their function. You will work alongside PhD students and Postdocs and contribute to a major ARC funded program aimed at transforming our ability to analyse, understand, and engineer phages. You will learn phage biology and molecular biology, DNA sequencing, and analysis. We present our work all over the world, and we are a supportive team to help you succeed.

Further information

For more information about our research, check out our lab website and the FAME group's website.

Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.