2-years Funded Post-doc position on the Bacterial epigenetic and epitranscriptomic response to antibiotics (France)

2-years Funded Post-doc position on the Bacterial epigenetic and epitranscriptomic response to antibiotics, at Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.

Research on antibiotic resistance usually focuses on resistance mechanism to high antibiotic doses which kill bacterial cells. We are studying the effects of low antibiotic doses, on bacterial stress responses, in order to identify new targets involved in antibiotic resistance development.

We have identified one new factor for antibiotic tolerance, that involves bacterial RNA modifications. RNA modifications impact translation. We found that presence or absence of several rRNA modifications confer, not resistance, but increased or decreased tolerance to antibiotics, which may lead to treatment failure, and development of antibiotic resistance.

The proposed project addresses antimicrobial resistance, under the prism of the less well studied “phenotypic tolerance”, where populations of bacteria start tolerating antibiotics and may become resistant, without the presence of known genetic resistance determinants in their chromosomes. In this project, we expect to establish bacterial rRNA modifications and translation errors patterns in response to antibiotics, the role of rRNA modifications in codon specific decoding and survival to sub-MIC antibiotic stress. We will further explore such phenotypic responses at the molecular level. The project builds up on our latest preprint doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.06.479318, and new ideas are welcome.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, dynamic and independent scientist with interest in translation, RNA and bacterial genetics and epigenetics. The ideal candidate should have experience in bacterial genetics, molecular biology and the manipulation of RNA, and a passion for microbiology. Bioinformatic skills would be highly appreciated, but not mandatory. The candidate is expected to contribute both experimentally and intellectually to the development of the project. Our lab offers a friendly and supportive scientific environment. The 2-year position is funded by the French national research agency (ANR) project ModRNAntibio.

Contact: Please send your application including a CV with your list of publications, a statement of research interest and the names of 2 referees to Zeynep Baharoglu: baharogl@pasteur.fr 

The contract may start between May and October 2022.

For more information on host lab:
https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/bacterial-responses-to-antimicrobial-stress/
https://research.pasteur.fr/en/team/bacterial-genome-plasticity/

For more information about the funded project and consortium:
https://research.pasteur.fr/en/project/phenotypic-adaptation-to-antibiotics-t-rrna-modifications/