Investigating microtubule formation in Drosophila oocytes

The results of the rotation project can feed directly into a PhD project that will use Drosophila oocytes as a model to understand microtubule formation and organisation. The student will continue to characterise the dynamic behaviour of microtubules and microtubule nucleation components and will use CRISPR/homologous recombination techniques to make novel mutants and to add fluorescent and biochemical tags to candidate genes. The student will then be able to assess the dynamic behaviour of microtubules and microtubule nucleation components in different mutant backgrounds and to probe for interactions between different proteins. The knowledge of microtubule formation gained will be of high impact in the field and should lead to publications in high profile journals. Moreover, by using multiple techniques, such as molecular cloning, Drosophila genetics, live cell imaging and biochemistry, the student will gain a strong foundation in practical cell biology.