Download Postdoctoral fellowship in environmental microbiology, University of

Postdoctoral fellowship in environmental microbiology, University of Strasbourg, France IMPACT OF MICROORGANISMS AS SINKS FOR CHLOROMETHANE We invite applications for a postdoctoral position (m/f) in microbiology with a focus on the role of chloromethane-­‐degrading microorganisms in the environment, within the interdisciplinary CHLOROFILTER project recently funded by ANR involving 4 partners in France and Germany. The position is initially for one year (starting date May 2015) at Université de Strasbourg (UMR 7156 CNRS), with possible extension for one year in Clermont-­‐Ferrand (FR 3467 CNRS-­‐Université Blaise Pascal), contingent on good progress. The central objective of the project is to evaluate and characterize the contribution of microbial sinks for chloromethane (CH3Cl) associated with different terrestrial biogenic sources in soils, the phyllosphere1, and clouds2,3, basing on previous and recent work by the host laboratory on the biochemistry and genetics of aerobic CH3Cl degradation4,5. The postdoctoral fellow will work on: •
assessing natural sources of chloromethane using a specific fluorescence-­‐based bioreporter6 •
characterizing the microbial community of diverse selected environmental samples using high-­‐
throughput sequencing of taxonomical and functional gene markers •
labelling biomass of chloromethane-­‐converting microbes of selected samples of plants and clouds exposed to the 13C-­‐isotopologue of CH3Cl for subsequent metagenomic DNA high-­‐throughput sequencing. 1
2
Relevant bibliography: Nadalig T et al. (2011) FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 77, 438-­‐448; Vaïtilingom M et al. (2010) Appl 3
4
Environ Microbiol. 76, 23-­‐29; Vaïtilingom M et al. (2013) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 110, 559-­‐564; Roselli S et al. (2013) 5
6
Plos One 8(4):e56598; Nadalig T et al. (2013) MicrobiologyOpen. doi: 10.1002/mbo3.124; Farhan Ul Haque M et al. (2013) Appl Environ Microbiol. 79, 6561-­‐6567. Applications will require: •
A PhD degree in microbiology or molecular biology within the last five years •
Good working knowledge of bioinformatic tools •
Good knowledge of English (written and oral) •
Good communication skills and the ability to work in an interdisciplinary team •
A good publication record in peer-­‐reviewed journals Experience in biochemistry and in working with microcosm systems and/or stable isotopes will be an additional asset. The host team at UMR 7156 CNRS -­‐ University of Strasbourg (http://gmgm.unistra.fr/id=3655) has a strong expertise in functional and comparative genomics of the degradation of halogenated methanes, and coordinates an international consortium of methylotrophic genome annotation via the Microscope web platform at Génoscope (https://www.genoscope.cns.fr/agc/microscope/about/collabprojects.php? P_id=26). University of Strasbourg has 79 research units that cover all disciplinary fields and is at the nexus of international collaboration. Strasbourg is a pioneer city in France in terms of respect for the environment, a very pleasant place to live in and at a key crossroads of European economy, in a very dense trading zone between Northern and Southern Europe along the Rhine axis. We offer salary and social benefits of the French public employment sector according to ANR regulations. Please send your application (in electronic form and assembled in a single pdf file) with CV, list of publications, copies of certificates, names and contact information of several referees, and cover letter stating the relevance of your work to the project mission, to: Dr. Françoise Bringel, [email protected] (phone +33 (0)3 68 85 18 15) and Dr. Pierre Amato, pierre.amato@univ-­‐bpclermont.fr (phone +33 (0)4 73 40 53 20) Closing date for applications is March 15, 2015.