- Vacancy Reference Number
- MIBTP-VS/JM
- Closing Date
- 7 Jan 2018
- Salary
- Research Council Rate
- Address
- Department of Neuroscience, Psychology & Behaviour,
University of Leicester,
University Road,
Leicester.
LE1 9HN
- Duration
- 4 years
Gastropods constitute a significant agricultural and horticultural pest. Despite their potential for significant world-wide impact on agriculture and horticulture, effective control methods are currently limited and active ingredients in common molluscicides, metaldehyde and cholinesterase inhibitors, present a direct risk to humans and pets as well as to wildlife, especially due to bio-accumulation in the food chain. Thus, there is a clear need for the rational development of novel strategies to control molluscs in agriculture and horticulture. However, this is hampered by a lack of a detailed understanding of the neurobiological basis for the control of feeding behaviour. While the neuronal networks that generate the actual feeding movements of the mouth have been studied extensively, there is a limited understanding of the mechanisms that lead from detection of a potential food source to the activation of feeding behaviour. Interestingly, most terrestrial snails and slugs do not appear to possess an innate food preference, but are omnivores that become highly selective feeders after they have encountered a nutritious food source. This strategy makes them highly adaptive to changes in their environment and also very damaging as once they have 'acquired a taste' for a specific crop, they will feed selectively on that food source. The project will study the neuronal mechanisms that lead to the acquisition of learned food preferences in snails and slugs, with a focus on the integration of external and internal chemosensory signals and the role of dopamine as a reward signal. This knowledge could provide important leads for the development of novel control strategies for gastropod pests with potentially less environmental impact than the current practice of large scale molluscicide use. The project is advertised as part of the BBSRC-MIBTP postgraduate training programme.
Further Information
Volko Straub
Department of Neuroscience, Psychology & Behaviour,
University of Leicester,
University Road,
Leicester.
LE1 9HN
email: vs64@le.ac.uk
Contact Details
https://www2.le.ac.uk/research-degrees/doctoral-training-partnerships/bbsrc/molecules-cells-and-systems
