A novel microbial risk management tool for the shellfisheries industry
The deadline for 2012 Doctoral College Studentships has now passed.
The Brighton Doctoral College is pleased to welcome applications from self-funded or externally sponsored students for programmes of research in this or a closely related area, beginning from September 2012. Applications are welcome from students wishing to study full time or part time, and applications are welcome from students in employment who have the support of their employers.
- Based in the Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Supervisors: Professor Huw Taylor; Dr James Ebdon
Application deadline
The university cannot guarantee that students can start at their requested date unless deadlines are met.
- UK/EU students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 August, for January entry it is the 1 November and for May it is the 1 March.
- International students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 June, for January entry it is the 1 September and for May it is the 1 January.
Recent research revealed that a significant proportion (76 percent) of oysters tested from UK oyster growing beds contained norovirus.
The shellfisheries industry is a key component of the economy of northern France and is a growing force in the economy of southern England, but its further development may be hindered by the potential risk of human infectious disease originating from municipal wastewater discharges into coastal waters. Recent research at the University of Brighton (Ogilvie et al., 2012; Ebdon et al., 2012) has demonstrated that a rapid bacteriophage-based technique may offer an effective low-cost surrogate for the detection of pathogenic viruses in shellfish. Working closely with our colleagues at Cefas (the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) in the UK, and Ifremer (the Institute for the Exploitation of the Seas) in France, the student will investigate the development and application of both a simple culture-based approach, and a more advanced culture-independent genetic detection method to monitor the sanitary quality of shellfish in the France (Channel) England region of the European Union. Through a detailed study of pathogen and phage ecology in shellfish of the region, it is envisaged that the PhD study will demonstrate whether: 1. our target phages are effective surrogates for several common shellfish pathogens in the region; and 2. they work in different shellfish species (e.g., mussels, native and pacific oysters, etc.). It is hoped that the research will lead to a new human health protection tool that will have immediate practical applications both in the region, and potentially, throughout Europe.
Candidates must be prepared to work for up to one month at a time at our partner institutions in England and France.
Find out more
References
Ebdon, J.E., Sellwood, J., Shore, J. and Taylor, H.D. (2012). Phages of Bacteroides (GB-124): a novel tool for viral waterborne disease control? Environmental Science and Technology, 46 (2). pp. 1163-1169.
Ogilvie, L.A., Caplin, J., Dedi, C., Diston, D., Cheek, E., Bowler, L., Taylor, H., Ebdon, J., and Jones, B.V. (2012) Comparative (meta)genomic analysis and ecological profiling of human gut-specific bacteriophage φB124-14. PLoS ONE 7(4): e35053.
Find out more about research at the University of Brighton.
