Deciphering the mechanisms of postembryonic digestive tract remodelling in vertebrates
Supervisors:
Dr Arne Jacobs, School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Dr Neal Dawson, School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Dr Adam Dobson, School of Molecular Biosciences
Summary:
Metamorphosis is a dramatic transformation in vertebrates, completely reshaping, or degrading, organs such as the intestine and liver to meet the demands of adult life. While thyroid hormones are known to trigger these changes, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood in most vertebrate lineages.
This PhD project offers a unique opportunity to explore energy metabolism, gene regulation and the microbiome using a comparative framework across vertebrate lineages undergoing metamorphosis, frogs, flatfish and lampreys. The focus will be on lampreys, which show drastic variation in organ remodelling, including the degradation of the intestine in non-parasitic species compared to functional intestines in closely related parasitic species.
You will combine biochemical assays, transcriptomics and metagenomics to address three major aims:
Aim 1: Determine the extent to which gene expression and key supporting metabolic pathways are conserved across vertebrate lineages?
Aim 2: Characterise the changes in intestinal microbiome during metamorphosis and assess its role in shaping organ remodelling.
Aim 3: Test whether shifts in energy metabolism and the microbiome contribute to intestinal degradation in non-parasitic lampreys.
Training will cover cutting-edge experimental and computational approaches, and interdisciplinary collaborations. This project provides exceptional preparation for a career in evolutionary biology, molecular physiology, and beyond.