Master thesis project in Physiology: “Functional characterization of the genes involved in trans-generational immune priming in honey bee larvae”

Background: Honeybees are threatened worldwide, due to high level of various environmental stressors and management practices. Diseases are wreaking havoc in the honeybee populations around the globe. Moreover, many of the disease are spilling over to wild pollinators, meaning, that healthier honeybees lead to potentially reduced chances of spillover diseases for many endangered species.  We have identified handful of genes involved in the trans-generational immune priming against globally spread honeybee pathogen called American Foulbrood (AFB). This bacterium is one of the most devastating and hardest to treat among the diseases spreading in honeybee colonies. Using transcriptomic analysis, we have identified number of genes as candidates, which could play an essential role in the acquired resistance against AFB. In the frames of the thesis work, you will analyses the expression of these genes in the honeybee larvae and in different tissues of the bee larvae. Further, you will use RNAi to knock down the genes and study the effect on the pathogen resistance in the honeybees by using infection assays under strict laboratory conditions.

Start: immediately
Working group: Ass. Prof. Dalial Freitak 
Information/Application: Email: dalial.freitak(at)uni-graz.at