Drosophila telomeres Group
*Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (IBE -CSIC)
Open position to work on Eukaryote telomere evolution and function
Our group focuses on the study of how transposable elements interact with the eukaryote genome and how these interactions can be essential for the correct function of the cell. We are particularly interested in understanding how the relationship between transposable elements and the eukaryote genome has change during evolution in order to establish these particular symbiotic relationships. To study this we use the telomeres of Drosophila that are composed of three retrotransposons, HeT-A, TART and TAHRE. These very special retrotransposons maintain their personality as transposons but at the same time are committed to maintain the telomeres in Drosophila. Telomere maintenance is crucial for processes as important as aging, tumorogenesis and genome stability.
The project involves the use of different techniques related to molecular biology, protein biochemistry, cellular biology, genetics, sequence analyses and phylogeny reconstruction. The work will use Drosophila as a model system, as well as different insect cell lines.
* The ¨Institut de Biologia Evolutiva¨ will be a brand new Scientific Institute composed of groups from CSIC and from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). The IBE will be temporarily located at the ¨Institt de Ciencies del Mar ¨ (ICM, CSIC), Barcelona.
