A PhD position on eukaryotic phylogenomics is available at the University Paris-Sud (France)

A PhD position on eukaryotic phylogenomics is available at the 
University Paris-Sud (France) in the DEEM laboratory (Diversity, Ecology 
and Evolution of Microorganisms: 
http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/spip.php?rubrique7&lang=en).

-Scientific context: Despite intense research in recent years, the 
general phylogeny of eukaryotes remains poorly resolved. The order of 
divergence of the major eukaryotic phyla and the settlement of essential 
metabolic and structural features are still insufficiently described. 
Many extant eukaryotic phyla emerged through the gain or loss of 
plastids carrying out photosynthesis. Plastid endosymbiosis is 
accompanied by a massive flow of Endosymbiotic Gene Transfers (EGT) from 
the symbiont to the host genome. The first plastid endosymbiosis in 
eukaryotes involved a cyanobacterium and an unknown host and gave rise 
to the supergroup Archaeplastida (green algae and plants, red algae, and 
glaucophytes). This initial endosymbiosis was followed by a number of 
subsequent endosymbioses where various heterotrophic hosts engulfed and 
converted green and red algae into the secondary plastids found in many 
eukaryotic phyla today. These, and their heterotrophic relatives, were 
shaped by secondary endosymbiosis but we still do not know when, how and 
to what extent.

-Project: The goal of the PhD project is to decipher the role of 
secondary endosymbiosis in eukaryotic evolution by improving the genome 
sequence data for underrepresented phyla and providing a rigorous 
analysis of EGT traces in these genomes. Using next generation 
sequencing, we are producing high coverage transcriptomes of a variety 
of photosynthetic and heterotrophic species having strategic positions 
on the phylogeny of eukaryotes. The PhD will be in charge of analyzing 
these data by phylogenomic and comparative genomic methods to: 1) 
Enhance the resolution of the tree of eukaryotes, 2) detect traces of 
secondary endosymbiosis and attempt to infer when they occurred, 3) take 
advantage of this new genomic resources to understand the evolution and 
the settlement of original metabolic features characteristic of these 
eukaryotic groups.

-Qualifications: Candidates must have an MSc degree and strong interest 
in early evolution and eukaryotic diversity and phylogeny as well as 
some experience in computational biology.

-Application: The application should include 1) a motivation letter, 2) 
a detailed CV with grades/ranks, and 3) the names and contact 
information for at least two referees. This material has to be sent by 
e-mail to David Moreira (david.moreira@u-psud.fr) and Philippe Deschamps 
(philippe.deschamps@u-psud.fr).

david.moreira@u-psud.fr