About the Project
Environmental insults (pollution / heat stress) can cause heritable phenotypic outcomes in both wild animal populations and humans. These outcomes can be mediated by epigenetic changes, such as DNA methylation. However, epigenetic inheritance is difficult to study in mammals due to long generation times and need for ethical practices. We therefore use New Approach Methodologies, such as ecologically responsive invertebrates, to identify the mechanisms underpinning heritable environmentally induced phenotypic outcomes.
Using the marine amphipod, Parhyale hawaiensis (a key developmental model species), this project will determine the extent to which environmentally induced DNA methylation changes are heritable and whether parental sex or genetic background influence heritability.
Ob1. Identify environmentally induced phenotypic changes in adult and offspring P. hawaiensis: you will use ecotoxicology techniques to carry out chemical/heat exposures and measure fitness traits (e.g., growth, fecundity).
Ob2. Identify environmentally induced DNA methylation changes in adult and offspring P. hawaiensis: using Nanopore Sequencing you will identify DNA methylation changes via bioinformatic pipelines.
Ob3. Determine the extent to which heritable DNA methylation marks are influenced by parental genotype, sex and exposure history: you will create complex reciprocal crosses and develop state-of-the-art allele-specific epigenomic bioinformatic pipelines.
Ob4. Determine if the observed heritable epigenetic changes directly cause the observed phenotypic changes: you will attempt to alter DNA methylation via CRISPR-Cas gene editing.
Project environment: this is an interdisciplinary project which will provide you will skills in ecotoxicology, bioinformatics and molecular epigenetics – opening doors for a career in a wide range of sectors.
Techniques that will be undertaken during the project
- Ecotoxicology using New Approach Methodologies (Parhyale hawaiensis)
- Molecular biology: DNA/RNA extraction, Bisulfite PCR, CRISPR-Cas gene editing.
- Nanopore sequencing
- Bioinformatic analysis (R / Bash / Python / Machine Learning)
Enquiries
Project Enquiries to [contact details available in the full listing]
Programme enquiries to [contact details available in the full listing]
To apply please refer to
https://le.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/funded-opportunities/bbsrc-mibtp
Funding Notes
All MIBTP students will be provided with a 4 year studentship. This includes: Tuition fees at the UK fee rate*, a tax free stipend which for 2026/7 is £21,805 per year (2027/8 stipend to be confirmed), a travel allowance over years 1-3, a travel/conference budget, a generous consumables budget, use of a laptop for the duration of the programme. The University of Leicester will provide full overseas fee waivers for the duration of their study to all international students accepted at Leicester. The funder, UKRI, allows us to appoint up to 30% overseas students.
