PhD position – Exploring form & function in one of nature’s most powerful water-conservation systems

PhD position in the Denholm lab at the University of Edinburgh, UK

You will use modern techniques to study the development and/or physiology of one of the most powerful water-conserving systems in nature – the beetle cryptonephridial (or ‘buried kidney’) complex.

Insects can live and thrive in some of the most inhospitable environments on earth, including extremely desiccating conditions such as deserts. Many species possess a powerful water-conserving system called the cryptonephridial (or ‘buried kidney’) complex (CNC), which recovers water from the rectum and recycles it back to the body. This remarkable system even allows water vapour absorption from moist air, providing a novel physiological mechanism for water uptake. It is estimated that >400,000 insect species have a CNC, with CNCs being particularly common in beetles. The broad principles underpinning CNC physiology were laid down half a century ago, and the system has since become a staple textbook example of a countercurrent exchange system. Despite this, next to nothing is known about CNC development, molecular physiology, endocrinological regulation or evolution. 

In this project you will use the model beetle species Tribolium and exploit enabling technologies including genomics, single-nuclei RNAseq, informatics, imaging and in-vivo analysis to identify how this system develops and functions. We have catalogued gene expression profiles (using snRNAseq) from the CNC of this species (in both embryo and adult), providing a window into its embryonic development and the molecular players involved in its physiological function at single-cell resolution. 

The techniques you will use and be trained in include: (1) Bioinformatics. You will use this to prioritise key genes involved in the development and function of the system. (2) Hybridisation chain reaction fluorescent in situ hybridisation. You will use this to map expression of candidate genes in embryonic, larval and adult CNCs. (3) Gene knock-down: you will use RNAi to knock-down gene activity for each candidate and, use (4) Microscopy (both fluorescence confocal and electron microscopy) and simple physiological assays to establish roles for these genes in CNC development and function.  

Results from this project will significantly expand our understanding of one of the most powerful water-conserving systems in nature, one that is fundamental to insect physiology, ecology and evolutionary success.

Please apply here: https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/eastbio-exploring-form-and-function-in-one-of-nature-s-most-powerful-water-conservation-systems/?p179647

For more details please contact: Barry.Denholm@ed.ac.uk

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