[3dem] Postdoctoral position to work on the structure of bacteriophages and more generally on phage infection by cryo-EM/ET

[schoehn]

Dear all

There is an open position at the IBS Grenoble, France

*Postdoc Position in Electron cryo-Microscopy of phage infection*


  Job description and objectives

A post-doctoral position is available to study, by cryo-electron 
microscopy, the mechanisms of host recognition and infection 
triggerinthecaseof siphophage9N1, a bacteriophage that infects /Salmonella/.

Bacteriophages are bacterialvirusesthatrecognise very specifically their 
host. Host recognition initiates perforation 
oftheheavilyarmouredbacterial 
cellwall,allowingtheinjectionofviralDNAintothehostcytoplasm, which leads 
to viral replication, phage productionand eventually liberationof 
thenewvirions.The project wishes to obtainthe structural details of host 
recognition and infection trigger by solving the structure of the whole 
virion before and after interaction with its receptor, /i.e./ a membrane 
of lipopolysaccharide. This will be done by electron cryo-microscopy 
(cryoEM) single particle analysis to provide atomic resolution of the 
virion and electron cryo-tomography on mini-skinny cells to have a more 
global view how the siphophages perforates the whole cell wall.

This project is a collaboration between two leading research teams in 
the field of biochemistry, biophysics and structural biology of 
bacteriophages and electron microscopy: the teams of Cécile Breyton 
(IBS, Grenoble) and of Guy Schoehn (IBS, Grenoble) in an international 
ANR consortium with Stefanie Barbirz (MSB, Berlin). IBS is hosting 
state-of-the‐artplatforms in structural 
biology,includinganelectronmicroscopyplatformincludinga Glacios equipped 
with aK2directelectron detector. Access toKrioses is also available at 
the neighbouring ESRF.Grenoble, capital of the French Alps, is a very 
lively and international city. IBS is part of the Partnership for 
Structural Biology, including the EMBL outstation, ILL and ESRF with ~ 
300 scientist interested in structural biology producing an extremely 
dynamic and motivating scientific environment.

*The postdoctoral researcher will have to:*

- produce, purify and optimise phage, outer-membrane vesicle and 
mini-skinny cell samples needed for the project,

- prepare the samples for the electron cryo-microscope (vitrification),

- collect images (conventional imaging and tomography) of the samples 
using the latest generation of electron cryo-microscopes and/or interact 
with the local, national international EM platforms,

- process the data by image analysis (Relion, CryoSparc, eman2…),

- interpret the 3D structures obtained including tracing the peptidic 
chain into the EM Coulomb map,

- write scientific articles and present the data at conferences.


  Qualifications

The successful candidate will hold a PhD and be an expert in single 
particle and tomography cryo-electron microscopy (sample preparation, 
data acquisition) as well as in advanced image analysis techniques 
(Relion, CryoSparc, eman2…) and show strong interest for phage biology. 
We seek a candidate motivated to work independently and who will 
demonstrate healthy team work ethic. In addition, candidates are 
required to demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills.


  Job Details

*Financial support*: French National Research Agency (ANR, 2022). The 
salary will be based on the CEA guidelines for post-doctoral positions. 
The CEA provides generous vacation days, good benefits and health 
insurance. Candidates with or without a post-doctoral experience are 
encouraged to apply.

*Lo**cation*: Institute for Structural Biology (IBS), Grenoble France 
https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.ibs.fr__;!!Mih3wA!DAHr634KP8pTre0yWzyMYPwJfN3rmqQsxCbkmF9msdc_aLf6ajqvjEasn3Yy5geDxZ5oq5SGjrPexVXLl1F4zow$ 

*Starting date*: January 2024

*Duration*:18 months to 2 years depending on experience


  To Apply

Interested candidates should send their CV summarising qualifications 
and experience, including the names and addresses of two referees and a 
motivation letter to Cécile Breyton (orcid: 0000-0002-4382-0434, 
<mailto:0000-0002-4382-0434,%20>cecile.breyton at ibs.fr) and Guy Schoehn 
(orcid: 0000-0002-1459-3201, guy.schoehn at ibs.fr <mailto:guy.schoehn at ibs.fr>)



Sincerely yours


Guy and Cécile
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