How do fungi and bacteria communicate? Decoding the rules of cross-kingdom microbial interactions (BUSCAINO_Q27DTP)

Microorganisms rarely live alone. Instead, fungi and bacteria form complex communities where they constantly communicate, compete and cooperate. These cross kingdom interactions are increasingly recognised as key regulators of microbiome function, health and disease, yet the fundamental biological rules that govern them remain poorly understood.
This PhD project will investigate how the human fungal commensal Candida albicans interacts with the oral bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum. Although these microorganisms normally coexist harmlessly, recent studies suggest that their partnership changes dramatically in different host environments and may contribute to diseases such as colorectal cancer. Understanding why the same fungal–bacterial interaction produces such different outcomes is an outstanding biological question with important implications for human health.

Based in the Buscaino and Juge laboratories at the Quadram Institute, you will explore how environmental conditions, microbial diversity and cell surface adhesins shape this interaction. The project integrates fungal genetics, bacterial biology, genomics, bioinformatics, molecular biology and protein biochemistry/biophysics, using cutting edge approaches including CRISPR genome editing, comparative genomics, transcriptomics, confocal microscopy, gut on chip models and protein interaction assays.

You will receive comprehensive training in experimental design, data analysis and scientific communication, and develop highly transferable skills in project management, teamwork, organisation and communication to both scientific and lay audiences. Working within a collaborative, interdisciplinary research environment, you will have access to state of the art facilities, international collaborations and opportunities to present your work at national and international conferences.

This project is ideally suited to motivated students with interests in microbiology, genetics, genomics, host–microbe interactions or microbial evolution, who wish to address fundamental questions in biology while building a broad, flexible skill set for careers in academia, industry or beyond.