Doctoral study program: Life Sciences

Supervisor: Pavel Plevka

Topic title: Structural characterization of leptophage replication cycle

Annotation:

Despite decades of study, important aspects of phage replication cycles, such as the mechanism of genome delivery, initiation of head assembly, and genome packaging, are poorly understood. We propose to use cryo-electron microscopy and tomography to characterize replication intermediates of phage LE3 infecting Leptospira. The in situ data collection will be enabled by the dimensions of leptospira cells, which are 100 nm thin. Analysis of the infection intermediates will focus on genome delivery, initiation of head assembly, and genome packaging. These processes cannot be studied in vitro because of the challenges of preparing the corresponding complexes in functional form in sufficient amounts.

Recommended literature:

• Characterization of LE3 and LE4, the only lytic phages known to infect the spirochete Leptospira. Schiettekatte O, Vincent AT, Malosse C, Lechat P, Chamot-Rooke J, Veyrier FJ, Picardeau M, Bourhy P. Sci Rep. 2018 Aug 6;8(1):11781. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-29983-6.
• Molecular architecture of tailed double-stranded DNA phages. Fokine A, Rossmann MG. Bacteriophage. 2014 Jan 1;4(1):e28281. doi: 10.4161/bact.28281. Epub 2014 Feb 21. PMID: 24616838
• A century of the phage: past, present and future. Salmond GP, Fineran PC. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2015 Dec;13(12):777-86. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro3564. Epub 2015 Nov 9. PMID: 26548913
• Viral genome packaging machines: Structure and enzymology. Catalano CE, Morais MC. Enzymes. 2021;50:369-413. doi: 10.1016/bs.enz.2021.09.006. Epub 2021 Nov 10. PMID: 34861943
• Casjens, S. R. (2011). The DNA-packaging nanomotor of tailed bacteriophages. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 9(9), 647–657. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2632

Research area: Structural biology, virology

Keywords: Phage, structure, cryo-EM, genome, delivery, packaging, assembly, molecular motors

Funding of the PhD candidate:

The student will be supported by the ERC consolidator grant Phage infection of bacterial biofilm (101043452).
In the academic year 2026/27 the net income of the CEITEC PhD School student is expected to be at least CZK 29,400 (approx. EUR 1215)

Requirements for candidate:

The prospective student should be interested in learning cryo-EM and structure determination approaches. Previous experience with molecular biology, programming, scripting, and data analyses is a plus.

Start date: September 2026
Sign-up link:https://www.ceitec.eu/structural-characterization-of-leptophage-replication-cycle/t11450