Objective:

Spore formers are an important class of microorganisms that have a wide range of applications in the food and biotech industries. The intern will contribute to a deeper understanding of spore-forming bacteria and their antibiotic resistance mechanisms, by developing methods for the characterization of spore-forming bacteria compatible with high throughput screening and assessing identifying genes responsible for antibiotic resistance using genomic data and molecular biology tools.

Approach:

The intern will be in charge of:

• In-depth literature review on spore former functionalities to identify ideal targets for high-throughput characterization testing.
• Development of new characterization methods compatible with HTS
• Genome analysis of spore-forming bacteria to identify genes responsible of antibiotic resistance
• Construction of GMO-strains to confirm the function of the identified genes.

Deliverables:

1. Detailed report on the optimization of the effectiveness of sporulation and germination of spore-forming bacteria using MTP and high-throughput methods.
2. Identification of antibiotic resistance genes correlated with phenotypic resistance profiles.

Education and Experience:

• Master or Engineer’s degree in Microbiology/Biology or Food Science.

Technical skills:

• knowledge in applied microbiology, bacteria physiology, cultivation, and assay development. Knowledge of bacterial spore formers handling is a plus.
• Familiarity with bioinformatics tools.
• Knowledge in genetic engineering. Previous experience in this domain would be a plus.
• Fluent in English. Basic French knowledge is a plus.
• Writing Skills:  English writing abilities.

Behavioral skills:

• Sense of relationships, positive, pro-active and team spirited.
• Autonomous and with a critical thinking attitude.
• Good communication skills, synthetic, able to adapt and convey messages.