9 months engineer in bioinformatics opportunity at GAFL Avignon (France)

Plant domestication can be viewed as an early step in the divergence of independently evolving lineages, usually under strong selection at least in the cultivated pool. As a consequence, reproductive isolation between wild and domesticated crops can have already evolved, potentially producing less fit hybrid offspring when crossed.

The ANR-funded DomIsol project (PIs: Maud Tenaillon GQE-Le Moulon, Catherine Dogimont GAFL, Yves Vigouroux IRD and Sylvain Glémin ECOBIO) aims at characterizing the genomic and phenotypic divergence between crop species and their wild relatives and inferring the extent of reproductive isolation in 14 systems. In a small set of species, we will study more precisely the genetic bases and the evolution of postzygotic reproductive isolation. Gene expression patterns will be compared between parents and F1 hybrids, and transcriptional changes in reciprocal crosses will be studied.

The engineer will analyze RNAseq data from wild and domesticated pools and from F1 hybrids in melon. RNAseq data and differential gene expression between parents will be available before the start of the project.

The engineer will have access to the Linux server of the GAFL unit and the HPC platforms of INRAE. The engineer will be integrated into the Informatics-Bioinformatics-Biostatistics (I2B) team. Mastery of the Linux environment and Bash, the use and interpretation of bioinformatics analysis software are required. Additionally, basic knowledge of packaging tools (Singularity) and workflow management (Snakemake, Nextflow) would be a plus. Knowledge and/or practice of cluster computing would be appreciated.

The project will take place at the Génétique et Amélioration des Fruits et Légumes (GAFL) INRAE lab in Avignon, whose research focuses on the genetic diversity of Mediterranean vegetable and fruit species and their capacity to adapt to climate change and resist pests and diseases. The engineer will benefit from local skills and pipelines available in the team and from close collaborations among the 4 partners involved in DomIsol.

The candidates should have a master 2 in bioinformatics and skills in statistics.

Advertising Started on: June 2nd, 2025

Start date: September, 2025

Salary: Full time (35h/w), INRAE salary scale, €2245 gross/month

Please send your CV and a letter of interest to:

catherine.dogimont@inrae.fr ; jacques.lagnel@inrae.fr

GAFL, https://eng-gafl.paca.hub.inrae.fr/