Download PDFPosition Type: Funded PhD
Country: UK
Deadline: January 06, 2025
Project Summary
Sheep scab, caused by the
ectoparasitic mite Psoroptes ovis, is an infectious disease of
small ruminants. It causes intense pruritus, pain and distress in infested
animals and is highly contagious, making it a key welfare concern for farmed
animals, with a severe economic burden of ~£80-200M per year to the UK farming
industry in lost production and treatment costs. Farmers can use either
organophosphate dips or injectable macrocyclic lactones (MLs) to control P.
ovis mites. Recently, ML resistance was confirmed in the UK and is
spreading widely. Currently, several control programs are in place across the
UK, with additional projects about to commence.
The aim of these programs is to
achieve long-term sustainable control of sheep scab in entire areas using,
primarily, organophosphate plunge dipping. This project seeks to investigate
changes in the mite populations in these programs over time, looking at
population size, diversity and using population genetics to compare between
populations and time points. We have available a chromosomal-level P.
ovis genome assembly, and will use genome wide and targeted techniques
to analyse these populations over both space and time.
This interdisciplinary project
provides a broad foundational training for research, including parasitological
techniques, molecular biology, population genetics, bioinformatics techniques
and knowledge exchange.
Supervisors:
- James Cotton, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
- Jennifer McIntyre, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
- Stewart Burgess, Moredun Research Institute
- Barbara Mable, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
- Roz Laing, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, (University of Glasgow)
Contact with supervisors for this
project.
https://www.gla.ac.uk/postgraduate/doctoraltraining/northwestbio/projects/pathogens/keepingtabsonscabpopulationgeneticstoinformsheepscaberadicationintheuk/
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