97 days ago
Institution/Company:

University of Toronto

Location:

Toronto

, Ontario

 Canada

Job Type:

Graduate Position

Degree Level Required:

Bachelor's

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Description:
The graduate project focuses on the role of intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) in plant-pathogen interactions. IDRs are protein regions that lack a stable 3D structure. IDRs are known to facilitate protein localization and protein-protein interactions, and proteins with IDRs often serve as functional hubs in regulatory and signaling networks. IDRs are also found in many pathogen secreted effectors proteins and it is believed that IDR domains are critical for the localization and function of these virulence factors.
We are looking for a student to systematically identify IDRs in pathogen effectors and the proteome of the plant host. We will then use machine learning to predict the co-localization of these protein in the plant host cell. Ultimately, we will test these predictions in vivo to determine the role of IDRs in disease (this component of the project is outside the scope of the bioinformatics project, but will be available to the student if interested).
The student will join the laboratory of David Guttman (Guttman Lab, PubMed, ‪Google Scholar‬) and work in collaboration with the Desveaux lab (Desveaux Lab). This study builds on an exciting and innovative project that has already resulted in numerous high-impact publications, including:
Responsibilities:

Entry into the Department of Cell & Systems Biology graduate program as a M.Sc. student with the potential to advance to the Ph.D. program.

Bioinformatic analysis with an emphasis on genome analysis, protein structure analysis, and machine learning.

Typical graduate student responsibilities, including TAing.

Qualifications:

A background in bioinformatics, computational genomics, or related.

Specific training will be provided.

Additional Information:

Due to caps imposes by the university and the province, the Dept of Cell & Systems Biology has very few openings for non-Canadian students; therefore, applications from Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be prioritized.  In order to be completely transparent, it should be made clear that these caps make it very unlikely that non-Canadian applicants will be accepted. This is not the choice of the lab, but a very unwelcome constraint.

The  Guttman lab is strongly committed to diversity and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of color, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

Keywords:

M.Sc.

Ph.D.

MSc

PhD

graduate student

virulence

bacteria

plant

pathology

effectors

intrinsically disordered regions

protein structure

disease

host-microbe interactions

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