NG-Fish - Non-genetic determinism of fish neurodevelopment and behavior

Call for expression of interest description

The Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) programme is a highly prestigious renowned EU-funded scheme. It offers talented scientists a unique chance to set up 2-year research and training projects with the support of a supervising team. Besides providing an attractive grant, it represents a major opportunity to boost the career of promising researchers.  

Research laboratories in Brittany arethus looking for excellent postdoctoral researchers with an international profile to write a persuasive proposal to apply for a Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship grant in 2024 (deadline of the EU call set on 11 September 2024). The topic and research team presented below have been identified in this regard.

Main Research Field

Life Sciences (LIF)

Research sub-field(s)

Genomics, Neurodevelopment, Fish Behavior, Non-genetic inheritance

Keywords

Genome editing, single-nucleus RNAseq and ATACseq, neurodevelopment, behavior, medaka

Research project description

The rationale of the project is that some maternal genes expressed in the oocyte can regulate neurodevelopment and long-term behavior in the progeny. These genes would be major intergenerational drivers of progeny behavior acting through non-genetic mechanisms.

The project will rely on a suit of state-of-the-art methods that will be implemented to reach the different scientific objectives of the project. We will use CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing to knock-out gene expression in the mother. This first objective of the project will be to comprehensively characterize e the maternal control of progeny behavior by specific maternal genes expressed in the oocyte. Firstly, semi-automatic behavioral phenotypic screens will be conducted in embryos and juveniles using a dedicated phenotyping system (Zebrabox). Then, individual and social behavior will be assessed in adults. This part will subsequently feed other work packages that will consist in disentangling (i) the mechanisms of intergenerational transmission and (ii) the early mechanisms of embryonic gene activation and expression regulating neurodevelopment. We will molecularly assess the impact of maternal loss of function on gamete features. Maternally-inherited transcripts that support early embryonic development are likely to be involved in shaping early molecular embryonic events including the timing of expression of important neurodevelopment genes. Non-coding RNAs, especially microRNAs (miRNAs), will also be investigated due to their importance in the regulation of maternally-inherited mRNAs during development. We will use state of the art methodology to assess gene expression at the cellular level, including the regulation of gene expression at the chromatin level, using single cell RNA-seq and single cell ATAC-seq. The analytical power of this approach will allow a comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanisms at stake involved in the fine regulation of neurodevelopment that will subsequently shape long-term behavior. The joint use of single-cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq throughout development in neural cell population or in precursor cells (e.g., neuronal stem cell) will provide major insights into underlying molecular process, including the timing of gene activation.

Supervisor(s)

The Postdoctoral Fellow will be supervised by Julien Bobe (https://eng-lpgp.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/people/julien-bobe ). Julien Bobe (Ph.D.) is currently the director of the Fish Physiology and Genomics INRAE institute (Rennes, France) and a principal investigator in fish functional genomics and evolution. His main research interests are the regulation of fish reproduction by miRNA, the non-genetic maternal effects shaping progeny behavior, microRNA gene evolution, and circulating miRNAs for non-invasive phenotyping.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9355-8227

Three recent publications:

1. Janati-Idrissi, S., de Abreu, M.R., Guyomar, C., de Mello, F., Nguyen, T., Mechkouri, N., Gay, S., Montfort, J., Gonzalez, A.A., Abbasi, M., et al. (2024). Looking for a needle in a haystack: de novo phenotypic target identification reveals Hippo pathway-mediated miR-202 regulation of egg production. Nucleic Acids Res. 52, 738–754. 10.1093/nar/gkad1154.

2. Parey, E., Louis, A., Montfort, J., Bouchez, O., Roques, C., Iampietro, C., Lluch, J., Castinel, A., Donnadieu, C., Desvignes, T., et al. (2023). Genome structures resolve the early diversification of teleost fishes. Science 379, 572–575. 10.1126/science.abq4257.

3. Clément, A., Merdrignac, C., Brionne, A., Nguyen, T., Montfort, J., Guyomar, C., Dauvé, A., Herpin, A., Colson, V., and Bobe, J. (2023). Maternal auts2a contribution is a major intergenerational driver of neurodevelopment and behavior. Preprint, https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2617834/v1 .

Department/

Research                    

The INRAE Fish Physiology and Genomics Institute is an internationally recognized research institute in fish functional genomics that has been involved in major European projects in functional genomics and has been coordinating many national (ANR) projects. The unit has also led the rainbow trout international consortium for the rainbow trout genome sequencing. The institute features an indoor fully staffed experimental facility for fish rearing and behavioral phenotyping. Projects held in the institute extensively on the use of genome editing in model species (zebrafish, medaka), functional genomics (including single-cell RNA-seq) and 3D imaging. Current projects and institute presentation available here: https://eng-lpgp.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/programs/current-programs

Location

Campus de Beaulieu, F-35000, Rennes, France