Stage Master

During development, distinct cell types acquire their properties under the control of transcription factors called cell fate determinants. These factors act on genes necessary for the progression of cell differentiation and this is accompanied by chromatin reorganisation. The acquisition of a specific chromatin conformation is required for cell differentiation and function. These two phenomena, gene regulation and chromatin reorganisation, have been well studied independently for numerous systems however their interdependency is poorly understood.
In this project, we propose to study the differentiation of glia in the developing Drosophila embryo to understand how the differentiation program controls chromatin reshaping. Our expertise on glia differentiation combined with state of the art sequencing technology and the powerful genetic model of Drosophila will allow us to add a new dimension to the understanding of cell differentiation in the nervous system.
For the whole duration of the project, the candidate will work in close collaboration with an engineer and a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Cattenoz. The candidate will have the opportunity to analyse high throughput sequencing data (RNAseq, Cut and Run) to investigate the transcriptional and epigenetic landscape of the developing glial cells. The analyses will be carried out using Python, R and/or shell scripts.