Tom Jeffries

Postgraduate Student

Contact Details

Mitchell/Seuront lab website

Academic Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Biography

Following on from an intense interest in science and the natural world I completed a Bachelor of Science and Honours Degree at Flinders, focusing on molecular biology and microbiology.  I also undertook a research scholarship at the Child Health Research Institute.  I have just begun my PhD in Associate Professor Jim Mitchell’s Laboratory in the School of Biological Sciences at Flinders University.

Conceptually speaking my interest is in applying molecular techniques to other areas of biology, in particular marine microbiology.  Specifically my interest is in using metagenomics and DNA microarrays to better understand the role and diversity of viruses in the ocean.

Since the discovery fifteen years ago that viruses are highly abundant in the ocean their importance in structuring marine planktonic communities, biogeochemical cycling, disease, lateral gene transfer and evolutionary processes has become evident.  Given that these viruses are host to potentially the greatest genetic diversity on earth, the majority of which remains uncharacterised, a need to apply novel molecular technologies to investigate these communities has become apparent.  One such technology is the application of oligonucleotide microarrays to allow for high throughput and simultaneous detection of viral genotypes in complex uncultured environmental samples.  The use of another powerful technique, metagenomic sequencing, allows for the genetic composition of environmental viral communities to be investigated. 

My project will involve applying and further developing these techniques to investigate viral communities and genotypes in a variety of marine systems.

Supervisor

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