Southampton_UK.AccessoryGenome PhD opportunity to join the growing Microbiology community in Southampton, UK Interested in how bacteria adapt to challenges like temperature changes and antibiotics? Join Nikolic lab at the University of Southampton to explore the role of accessory elements! PhD Project: "Accessory Genomes and Evolutionary Strategies of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria" How do bacteria respond so effectively to the myriad of environmental insults they face? This Project will investigate the flexibility of these resilient bacteria that is encoded in their 'accessory' genome, which can add novel functions to their core genome. Despite our advances in DNA sequencing technology, accessory elements still form the genetic 'dark matter' in bacteria as we know little about the functions of the genes they encode, making it difficult to develop control strategies against disease-causing bacteria. This Project will investigate how accessory systems work, and how they re-route bacterial core regulatory networks enabling bacteria to survive in harsh conditions and endure antimicrobial treatments. The PhD student will have the opportunity to employ microbiology, molecular biology, time-lapse microscopy, microfluidics and flow cytometry alongside bioinformatics and genome analysis tools. The roles of accessory systems will be studied in a set of Escherichia coliantibiotic-resistant pathogenic strains. The specific research questions that will be addressed will range from 'How do accessory genetic systems help bacteria to respond so quickly to environmental changes?' to 'How do accessory systems control the development of stress-tolerant 3D-structures called biofilms?'. The results of this Project will not only help us better understand how to successfully combat bacterial diseases but will also give us insights of how accessory elements supercharge bacteria to adapt to new environments, which is an increasingly important topic in light of the evolutionary pressure posed by pollution and climate change. More details here https://tinyurl.com/PhDbacteriaUoS Apply here https://tinyurl.com/MicroUoS For initial discussions, email Nela: N.Nikolic@soton.ac.uk Starting date: September 2025 Nela Nikolic, PhD Lecturer in Microbiology Office 2056 School of Biological Sciences Life Sciences Building 85 University of Southampton SO17 1BJ University Profile webpage Google Scholar ORCID Please note, I may send emails out of core working hours, as this fits my own work-life balance. I do not expect a response outside of your own working hours. Nela Nikolic (to subscribe/unsubscribe the EvolDir send mail to golding@mcmaster.ca)