意大利研究和创新中心博士后招聘

Post doc in “Insect vector population biology and ecology” (154_CRI_APD) : San Michele all'Adige (TN), Italy

A postdoc position is available in the Chemical Ecology unit, Sustainable Agro-Ecosystems and Bioresources department of the Research and Innovation Centre. The position is related to the project Scopazzi funded by the Autonomous Province of Trento (Accordo di Programma) and the Association of Fruit and Vegetable Producers in Trentino (APOT) and aimed at providing new insights into the biology and ecology of the insects vectors of apple proliferation for the development of sustainable control strategies.
The postdoc will join a large interdepartmental project involving various researchers and students (including entomologists, molecular evolutionists, bioinformaticians, microbiologists) whose final goal is to disentangle the biology of the vector-phytoplasma-host biology.
Apple phytoplasma disease deforms apple plants and reduces yield and fruit quality. The successful candidate will be in charge of conducting a research project aiming at uncovering the ecology of Candidatus Phytoplasma mali and its vectors. The approach intended for the study entails the identification and the ecology of alternative vectors of the disease agent and the assessment of the role of co-occurring microorganisms (such as endophytes and/or endosymbionts) in disease ecology and transmission

Tasks:
The successful candidate will:
• Find phytoplasma hosts (insects and plants) and characterise their biology;
• Apply insect-plant transmission trials to assess candidate species occurring in the apple agroecosystem as disease vectors;
• Study the interactions between plant/insect microbiota and the disease ecology and epidemiology

Keywords:
Apple phytoplasma disease, insect ecology, microbial ecology, hemiptera, vectors, endophytes, endosymbionts, epidemiology

Contract:
Project collaboration contract, 34 months (Contratto di collaborazione coordinata e continuativa a progetto)

Language:
Fluent in spoken and written English (C1). Knowledge of Italian will be considered a plus (B1)

IT:
Scientific softwares for molecular biology applications (i.e. BLAST, ClustalW, Primer3, Mega6); Software for Statistical analysis (i.e. Statistica, SPSS, R etc)

Title:
PhD in Biology, Agronomy or equivalent

Experience:
Required skills include: DNA isolation and amplification (PCR, RT-PCR), primer design, DNA handling, analysis of sequence data.
Desirable skills: insect population and landscape ecology; ecology of insect vectors (disease ecology and transmission); microbial ecology

Psychosocial skills:
Teamworking and supervising skills are especially welcome as the project involves close interaction with a team of scientists tackling the same issue from different sides

Supervisor:
Valerio Mazzoni

Deadline June 29, 2014

Web: http://www.fmach.it/eng/Work-with-us…