Supervisor: Alex Borodavka

How do viruses accurately assemble their genomes from multiple RNA molecules inside an infected cell?

Can biomolecular condensates act as molecular sorting machines that select the correct RNAs for viral genome assembly? Join us to answer one of the central unanswered questions in RNA virology using state-of-the-art quantitative biology, biophysics and molecular virology.

Many of the world’s most important human pathogens, including rotaviruses and influenza viruses, carry their genomes as multiple RNA segments that must be selectively assembled into every new virus particle. Despite decades of research, how viruses distinguish the correct RNAs from thousands of cellular transcripts remains one of the fundamental unanswered questions in molecular virology.

Recent discoveries have revealed that many viruses replicate within biomolecular condensates – dynamic, membrane-less compartments formed through liquid-liquid phase separation. While these viral condensates concentrate proteins and RNAs required for replication, it remains unknown whether they simply provide a reaction vessel or actively control which RNAs are selected for genome assembly.

This interdisciplinary PhD project will investigate how the physical properties of viral condensates regulate RNA selection and genome assembly. Working at the interface of biochemistry, biophysics, RNA biology and virology, the candidate will combine recombinant protein biochemistry, quantitative microscopy, single-molecule imaging, reverse genetics, and state-of-the-art RNA structural approaches to uncover how viral RNAs are selectively recruited into condensates and assembled into infectious genomes. The project will build upon recent discoveries from our laboratory demonstrating that viral condensates can exist in distinct biochemical states regulated by protein phosphorylation, providing an unprecedented opportunity to determine how condensate composition influences RNA selection.

The student will join a vibrant research environment within the Dunn School of Pathology in Oxford, with access to world-leading expertise in viral RNA biology, biomolecular condensates, super-resolution microscopy, structural biology, and computational modelling. The project offers opportunities to collaborate with researchers across Cambridge and internationally, and to develop expertise in cutting-edge quantitative approaches spanning molecular virology and soft matter biophysics.

This project is ideally suited to students with backgrounds in Biochemistry, Biophysics, Molecular Biology, Virology, Physical Chemistry, Biotechnology, or related disciplines who are excited by quantitative approaches and experimental biology to answer fundamental questions about virus replication and RNA biology.

Publications

1. Acker J., Wang X. et al. Phosphorylation tunes strain-specific protein condensation during rotavirus replication organelle assembly. EMBO Journal (2026).
2. Strauss S., Acker J., et al. Principles of RNA recruitment to viral ribonucleoprotein condensates in a segmented dsRNA virus. eLife (2023).
3. Acker et al., Seeing biomolecular condensates through the lens of viruses. Annual Review of Virology (2023).
4. Geiger F., Acker J., et al. Rotavirus replication factories are complex biomolecular condensates. EMBO Journal (2021).