Download The role of giant viruses in the origin of complex life Supervisors

The role of giant viruses in the origin of complex life
Supervisors
Main supervisor: Doctor Tom Williams (University of Bristol)
Co-supervisor: Doctor Davide Pisani (University of Bristol)
Project enquiries - Email: [email protected] Contact number: +44 (0) 07794232074
Host Institution: University of Bristol
Project description
Eukaryotic cells – the basis of complex life, from plants and algae to humans – first evolved in a symbiosis
between two prokaryotes: an archaeal host cell and a bacterial endosymbiont that gave rise to the mitochondria,
the energy-generating factories, of our cells (2). This symbiotic ancestry is reflected in the composition of
modern eukaryotic genomes, which contain a mixture of archaeal and bacterial genes. But not all eukaryotic
genes trace back to the founding symbiotic partners, and their origins remain a subject of controversy and
debate. The discovery of giant, cell-sized viruses encoding eukaryote-like genes (1), and the recent finding that
these viruses can integrate into modern eukaryotic genomes, have motivated the fascinating and highly
provocative idea that giant viruses, along with archaea and bacteria, may have contributed important genes to
the first eukaryotes.
The aim of this project is to determine the impact of gene transfer from giant viruses on eukaryotic evolution.
You will build phylogenetic trees and networks to establish the evolutionary links between the genomes of
giant viruses and eukaryotes, and use your results to build a model of the timing, directionality, and biological
impact of gene transfer between viruses and cells. Your analyses will provide a definitive test of the hypothesis
that giant viruses contributed key genes at the origin of eukaryotes, and will also establish the extent of gene
transfer between viruses and eukaryotes at later stages of eukaryotic evolutionary history, from the earliest
eukaryotic unicells to the large genomes of modern animals, plants and fungi.
With these and other questions, there will be ample scope for developing the project to address your interests –
one possibility would be to explore the origin of giant viruses themselves, a field awash with speculation and
where very little is currently known. You will receive world-class training in bioinformatics, genomics, and
computing, which will equip you with the skills to pursue research or to explore future opportunities in data
science, finance, or other careers in which advanced quantitative skills are required.
References
1. Boyer M et al. (2010) PLoS ONE 5(12): e15530.
2. Williams TA et al. (2013) Nature 504: 231-236.
Figure (1): Did giant viruses contribute genes to the earliest eukaryotes?
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