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=Lab News=

New PhD studentship position
Genome-wide association studies for insecticide resistance in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae

Resistance to the insecticides used for malaria control is widespread in the African malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae. The Donnelly group uses microarray and association-mapping technologies to detect genes that are associated with insecticide resistance1-3 and develops assays for detecting these resistance associated mutations for use in Africa. The student will be part of a collaboration with Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski4-5 of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to use next-generation sequencing technologies for genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of insecticide resistance in An. gambiae. The student will spend time at the LSTM, sites in sub-Saharan Africa and at the Sanger Institute.

Skills

The student will undertake hypothesis-driven exploration of an existing data set and will thereby acquire a range of skills in bioinformatics and statistics. These skills will then be applied to a genome wide association study of an insecticide resistance phenotype. The only specific skills that the student would require is that they were numerate. All analytical and biological techniques would be acquired during the project. The project would suit biology graduates in ecology, population genetics or evolutionary biology although graduates in applied mathematics and statistics/biostatistics would also be encouraged to apply.

Informal enquiries to Martin Donnelly m.j.donnelly(at)liv.ac.uk or David Weetman dweetman(at)liv.ac.uk

Formal application procedure LSTM

References

1. Weetman, D., Wilding, C.S., Steen, K., Morgan, J.C., Simard, F. & Donnelly, M.J. (2010) Association mapping of insecticide resistance in wild Anopheles gambiae populations: major variants identified in a low-linkage disequilbrium genome. PLoS ONE 5, e13140. 2. Lynd, A., Weetman, D., Barbosa, S., Yawson, A.E., Mitchell, S., Pinto, J., Hastings, I. and Donnelly, M.J. (2010) Field, genetic and modelling approaches show strong positive selection acting upon an insecticide resistance mutation in Anopheles gambiae s.s. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 27, 1117-1125. 3. Müller, P., Warr, E., Stevenson, B.J., Pignatelli, P.M., Morgan, J.C., Steven, A., Yawson, A.E., Mitchell, S.N., Ranson, H., Hemingway, J., Paine, M.J.I. & Donnelly, M.J. (2008) Field-caught permethrin-resistant Anopheles gambiae overexpress CYP6P3, a P450 that metabolises pyrethroids. PLoS Genetics, 4, e1000286. 4. Jallow, M., Teo, Y.Y., Small, K.S., Rockett, K.A., Deloukas, P., Clark, T.G., Kivinen, K., Bojang, K.A., Conway, D.J., Pinder, M., Sirugo, G., Sisay-Joof, F., Usen, S., Auburn, S., Bumpstead, S.J., Campino, S., Coffey, A., Dunham, A., Fry, A.E., Green, A., Gwilliam, R., Hunt, S.E., Inouye, M., Jeffreys, A.E., Mendy, A., Palotie, A., Potter, S., Ragoussis, J., Rogers, J., Rowlands, K., Somaskantharajah, E., Whittaker, P., Widden, C., Donnelly, P., Howie, B., Marchini, J., Morris, A., SanJoaquin, M., Achidi, E.A., Agbenyega, T., Allen, A., Amodu, O., Corran, P., Djimde, A., Dolo, A., Doumbo, O.K., Drakeley, C., Dunstan, S., Evans, J., Farrar, J., Fernando, D., Hien, T.T., Horstmann, R.D., Ibrahim, M., Karunaweera, N., Kokwaro, G., Koram, K.A., Lemnge, M., Makani, J., Marsh, K., Michon, P., Modiano, D., Molyneux, M.E., Mueller, I., Parker, M., Peshu, N., Plowe, C.V., Puijalon, O., Reeder, J., Reyburn, H., Riley, E.M., Sakuntabhai, A., Singhasivanon, P., Sirima, S., Tall, A., Taylor, T.E., Thera, M., Troye-Blomberg, M., Williams, T.N., Wilson, M. & Kwiatkowski, D.P. (2009) Genome-wide and fine-resolution association analysis of malaria in West Africa Nature Genetics, 41, 657-665. 5. Teo, Y.Y., Small, K.S. & Kwiatkowski, D.P. (2010) Methodological challenges of genome-wide association analysis in Africa. Nature Reviews Genetics, 11, 149-160.

Post-doctoral positions
We do not have any funded post-doctoral positions available at present but if you are interested in the work of the group please get in touch as we’d be happy to try to find funding for interesting projects.

MSc/BSc projects
If you are interested in MSc or BSc Honours year projects have a look at the research page to see our general interests and the list below which is a selection of earlier projects.

BOASE, Mr Tom; Susceptibility of field populations of Anopheles gambiae s.l. to organophosphate and carbamate insecticides, Eastern Uganda.

RAMPHUL, Ms Urvashi; Knockdown resisatnce to DDT and permethrin in Anopheles gambiae from Uganda

LAWTON, Mr Scott; Molecular genetics and systematics of tsetse flies (Diptera: Glossina), the vectors of African Trypansomiasis

RONALD, Ms Lisa; Epidemiology of malaria and anaemia among children in two districts of Kumasi, Accra

SIKAALA, Mr Chadwick; Investigating the distribution of pyrethroid knockdown resistance in Anopheles gambiae in southern and central Africa

FINDLAY-COOPER, Ms Kim; Larval ecology of Anopheles gambiae s.s. and resistance to pyrethroid insecticides in Kumasi, Ghana

PEPPIATT, Ms Nicole;   Mortalities of immature stages of Culex quinquefasciatus  at various breeding sites in Accra, Ghana

MIAH, Mr Zuned; Insecticide resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus from the Kotobabi district of Accra, Ghana

MERELO-LOBO, Ms Rita Incrimination of the vectors of lymphatic filariaisis in lower Shire valley, Malawi