Transgenerational inheritance in P. pacificus

Advisor: Ralf Sommer

Location: Max Planck Institute for Biology

The Pristionchus world: From mouth-form plasticity and life cycles to gene regulatory networks and gene phylogenies

The Pristionchus world: From mouth-form plasticity and life cycles to gene regulatory networks and gene phylogenies

The Department of Integrative Evolutionary Biology has an active research program studying the predatory model nematode Pristionchus pacificus with state-of-the-art facilities in molecular biology, biochemistry, nematode genetics, CRISPR-engineering, genomics, and bioinformatics. Our highly interdisciplinary research team works at the interphase between development, evolution and ecology. We investigate among others, the development and evolution of mouth-form plasticity with two alternative, predatory or bacterial feeding morphs and we have developed P. pacificus mouth-form plasticity as a prime model to study all aspects of phenotypic plasticity.
We recently discovered long-lasting transgenerational inheritance and epigenetics of diet-induced plasticity. A genetic screen for transgenerational inheritance-defective mutants identified a set of epigenetic factors and allows unprecedented studies of the associated molecular and biochemical mechanisms. We are searching for PhD students to join the department and study transgenerational inheritance in P. pacificus.
Selected reading: http://sommerlab.org
More information about the research of Ralf Sommer and a selection of recent publications can be found on his faculty page.

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Application deadline: 27 January 2025