Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) provide a first line of defence against infection. Recent genetic observations in mammals and insects find some AMPs with incredible importance against very specific bacterial strains. A powerful genetic system for this has emerged in Drosophila, where Diptericins A & B uniquely combat Providencia and Acetobacter bacteria respectively (Hanson et al., 2023; Science). It remains unclear how related AMPs evolve to have such microbe-specific potency.

For this split-site PhD, the student will work with supervisory teams in Exeter and Paris-Saclay, the student will investigate this fascinating model of AMP-microbe specificity using both microbial and insect genetics.

The interested student is encouraged to reach out in advance to m.hanson@exeter.ac.uk and peter.mergaert@i2bc.paris-saclay.fr.

To apply: the student should visit www.adum.fr and apply to Job no. 70298.