Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the laboratory of Dr Andrew Truman in the Department of Molecular Microbiology at the John Innes Centre (JIC, http://jic.ac.uk/). The project will focus on the biosynthesis of a natural product antibiotic that has promising activity towards multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, including Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
The position is for 3 years and forms part of a collaborative project between groups at JIC and Xiamen University (China) that is funded by the MRC UK-China AMR Partnership Initiative. The successful candidate will investigate the biosynthesis of this Streptomyces natural product and will also generate compounds for pre-clinical and mechanism of action testing by collaborators in China. Pathway engineering will be employed to improve antibiotic yield, and synthetic chemistry will be used in combination with pathway manipulation to generate novel derivatives for antibacterial assays. The project will establish whether the antibiotic, or one of its derivatives, will be taken forward to clinical trials, and will also reveal key insights into the biosynthesis of this novel molecule.
Applicants must have a PhD or postdoctoral experience at the biology-chemistry interface and have a good publication record. The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in the isolation, purification and structural analysis of secondary metabolites from bacterial cultures (HPLC, MS and NMR). An understanding of natural products biosynthesis and experience with molecular biology skills is also essential, while synthetic organic chemistry experience is desired. Candidates should have good communication skills and will need to work well in collaboration with researchers in both the UK and China.
The research group of Andrew Truman (http://www.jic.ac.uk/directory/andrew-truman/) is interested in how bacteria generate structurally complex natural products from simple amino acid precursors. We form part of a larger interdisciplinary collection of researchers within the Department of Molecular Microbiology who are focused on the discovery and characterisation of biosynthetic pathways in bacteria.
This post is for a contract of 36 months.
Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Andrew Truman (andrew.truman@jic.ac.uk).
For further information and details of how to apply, please visit our web site http://jobs.jic.ac.uk or contact Human Resources, Norwich BioScience
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