An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the Wilkinson Group at the John Innes Centre, working in collaboration with the Hutchings lab, on a project titled: Do Streptomyces endophytes evolve into pathogens?

About the Wilkinson Group

We are an inter-disciplinary team that includes chemists, biochemists and micro/molecular biologists who work on the discovery, biosynthesis, and biosynthetic engineering of microbial specialised metabolites, and on understanding the role these metabolites play in the environment. We focus on anti-infective molecules and additionally study their molecular targets & modes of action, and the immunity mechanisms employed by their producer organisms.

The role

We are interested in the chemical ecology of actinomycete bacteria, especially Streptomyces species and their specialised metabolites (SMs). For example, antibiotic-producing actinomycete bacteria interact with insects and plants and protect them against infection by pathogenic bacteria and fungi in return for food and housing. This is called a defensive mutualism (mutually beneficial symbiosis). Understanding these interactions will help discover new and useful SMs, including new antibiotics, and will also help to design approaches to protect important crop plants against disease.

Project background: Streptomyces bacteria are present in all soils and often enriched in the rhizosphere, i.e., the region of soil immediately surrounding plant roots. There are >1100 verified Streptomyces species but our work suggests only 2% of these enter plant roots and survive inside the endosphere. Ten of these endophyte species are pathogenic and contain a pathogenicity island (PAI), while the remainder are beneficial and receive food and housing from the plant in return for plant growth promoting (PGP) benefits, including defence against disease.

The project: This project is based on our discovery that a major PGP endophyte clade in wheat is closely related to pathogenic Streptomyces species but lacks the PAI and protects plants against disease. The successful candidate will work as part of a team investigating the relationship between pathogens and endophytes, and their ability to produce SMs related to pathogenesis or, as we hypothesise for endophytes, SMs with antifungal and/or other beneficial properties. Specifically, they will use their experience of natural products chemistry to perform metabolomics comparisons of the SMs produced under various experimental conditions, with an aim to identify and characterise new anti-infective SMs that could form the basis of future treatments for infectious disease or for agriculture. They will additionally investigate the biosynthesis of these new SMs.

The ideal candidate

You will have a PhD in Natural Products Chemistry with in-depth knowledge of natural product isolation and structure elucidation, especially when working with very small quantities of material from environmental samples, and of chemical ecology.

You will have a proven ability to perform research and develop novel ideas in natural products chemistry and chemical ecology.       Skills in metabolomics and a proven record in scientific writing are highly desirable.

Additional information

Interviews will be held on 7 April 2025.

Further information and details of how to apply can be found here, or contact the Human Resources team on 01603 450814 or nbi.recruitment@nbi.ac.uk quoting reference 1004862. This role meets the criteria for a visa application, and we encourage all qualified candidates to apply. Where the successful applicant requires a visa, we will fund the costs for their visa and the Immigration Health Surcharge. Please contact the Human Resources Team if you have any questions regarding your application or visa options.

We are an equal opportunities employer, actively supporting inclusivity and diversity.  As a Disability Confident organisation, we guarantee to offer an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for this vacancy. We are proud to hold a prestigious Gold Athena SWAN award in recognition of our inclusive culture, commitment and good practices towards advancing of gender equality. We offer an exciting, stimulating, diverse research environment and actively promote a family friendly workplace. The Institute is also a member of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme.

The John Innes Centre is a registered charity (No. 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

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