George Wendt
For further information please refer to <https://www.evolbio.mpg.de/3932464/Evolution-of-Parasitism-in-Flatworms>.
If you have questions after having read the relevant literature, contact George Wendt via <wendt@evolbio.mpg.de>.
To apply for the position please write an email to <imprs-application@evolbio.mpg.de> for attention of Ms. Ellen Karl from the MPI personnel department. Your application documents have to be compiled in one PDF including a short motivational statement, a short CV (biosketch), bachelor and master degrees/transcripts of records and contact information for two academic references. Name the PDF as follows: Lastname_Firstname_Wendt.pdf.
With submission of your application, you accept the processing of your applicant data in terms of data-protection law. For further information on the legal basis and data usage we refer to the MPG privacy policy on <https://www.evolbio.mpg.de/3246466/privacy-policy>
Understanding mobile genetic elements in parasitic flatworms
Parasitism is generally thought of at the organismal level – parasitic flatworms parasitize other animals. But within every eukaryotic genome, another type of “parasitism” exists: mobile genetic elements (MGEs) parasitizing their host genome. MGEs use host resources to replicate themselves, usually with no benefit or with a great deal of detriment to the host genome. Eukaryotic organisms have developed many different tools to combat MGEs and the damage that their replication can cause.
One particularly important tool that has evolved to combat these MGEs is a class of small RNAs known as piRNA. While the importance of piRNA in MGE suppression has been studied in many organisms, it has been shown to be absolutely essential for suppressing certain classes of MGEs in free-living flatworms such as planaria. Interestingly, when parasitic flatworms emerged from a common free-living ancestor, they appear to have lost the ability to generate piRNA. This leads to a fascinating question, the central question of this project: How do parasitic flatworms protect their genome from mobile genetic elements?
We will use techniques such as next generation sequencing, comparative genomics, and in vivo parasite culture to begin to answer this question.
Website and References:
https://www.evolbio.mpg.de/3932464/Evolution-of-Parasitism-in-Flatworms
- Why MGE control might be weird: 10.1038/nature12031
- Why MGE control might be really weird: 10.1073/pnas.96.9.4965