Graduate Student Positions: Functional Genomics and Metabolomics

Merritt Lab, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laurentian University

Graduate positions to study a variety of systems linked by common questions investigating the connection between genotype and phenotype are available in the Merritt Lab. Both MSc and PhD positions are available to start May-September 2013.

Current areas of investigation focus on network function, metabolomic complexity, and gene expression in flies and microbes. Successful applicants will be expected to develop research projects of their own that complement and build on these areas.                                                                  

Network metabolomics

Much of my research program investigates interactions across simple metabolic networks as models of biological complexity. Often using Drosophila melanogaster, this research combines naturally occurring and laboratory engineered genetic variation with biochemical, physiological, and complex biological phenotypes to quantify the connection between genetic variation and biological complexity. Working with D. melanogaster allows us to combine cutting edge molecular genetics with natural population genetic diversity to investigate the function and evolution of network complexity. This work is expanding our understanding of interactions within networks and the importance of the overall genetic background. Our results have implications both in the application of model systems and in the importance of inter-individual genetic variation. Current directions in this research include expanding the search for network metabolites using broad-based liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry (LC/MS).

Microbial Diversity and Metabolomic Complexity

My lab is also using LC/MS for metabolomic profiling to quantify interactions within microbial communities. This research will use naturally occurring and lab cultured communities with increasing species richness to quantify interactions within these communities with a focus on the distinct microbial communities of Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) environments. AMD, highly acidic water draining from mine waste, is a global environmental issue that largely results from microbial metabolism of mining contaminates. As such, the microbial communities are of great environmental and economic interest. These communities are also strikingly simple, facilitating their study and reconstruction, making them an exciting system for understanding the fundamental science of community interactions and metabolomics. This research combines the publicly available genomic and metagenomic libraries for many of the dominant AMD microbes with developing LC/MS-based metabolomic profiling to establish the connections between species and genome diversity and metabolic complexity. This work will be co-supervised with Drs. Nadia Mykytczuk and Leo Leduc in the Department of Biology at Laurentian University.

Influence of Genomic Architecture and Diversity on Gene Expression

Conventional models of gene regulation focus on cis-regulation, the control of transcription by regulatory elements on the chromosome being transcribed. Recent research has highlighted the importance of trans-regulation, the influence of one chromosome on the expression of the other, essentially crosstalk between chromosomes and a form of epigenetic regulation. Trans-regulation is much more poorly understood than cis-, but is a fast developing field with implications in both “normal” and disease state gene expression; trans-regulation appears to be the norm in flies, but has been implicated in disregulation of gene expression in some human cancers. My lab has been developing a model system in D. melanogaster that is extremely sensitive and experimentally tractable. Current research is investigating the role of both local and global factors in driving these trans-interactions.

The Merritt Lab is funded by grants from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), including a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair. Laurentian University is a bilingual institution offering courses in both French and English. Laurentian University is a bilingual institution offering courses in both French and English.

Applicants should be independently motivated, have a good academic record, and have demonstrated both an interest in and aptitude for research. Please send an application with unofficial transcripts, a brief CV including contact information for two references, to:

tmerritt@laurentian.ca 

Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Genomics and Bioinformatics

Associate Professor

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

Laurentian University

935 Ramsey Lake Road

Sudbury, ON, P3E 2C6, Canada.