PhD Scholarship - Defining how inter-bacterial symbioses regulate aquatic ecosystem health

Planktonic bacteria play crucial roles in regulating the productivity, health and function of aquatic ecosystems. Recent evidence suggests that the growth and ecological impacts of aquatic bacteria is potentially strongly regulated by previously over-looked inter-bacterial interactions. This project will combine cutting-edge approaches in genomics, phenomics and microfluidics to (i) identify new symbiotic interactions between bacteria, (ii) elucidate the key chemical currencies exchanged between bacterial partners, (iii) determine the behavioural mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of bacterial symbioses, and (iv) assess how these symbioses govern important ecosystem-level processes. The outcomes of this project will deliver a fundamentally new perspective on the processes controlling the health of important aquatic ecosystems, including the ocean, rivers and lakes.