Monique van Oers

This PhD project explores how baculoviruses manipulate caterpillar behaviour and how that manipulation is shaped by the broader viral context of the host. The work starts with comparing behavioural effects across closely and more distantly related baculoviruses and lepidopteran hosts, then moves to testing how the insect virome influences those outcomes. The project asks fundamental questions about parasite-host interactions and the concept of the extended phenotype, with a particular emphasis on covert virus infections in insects. You will investigate how hidden viruses may modulate the interaction between manipulative baculoviruses and their caterpillar host, making this a multidimensional study of viral ecology, insect behaviour, and host-virus crosstalk. A major part of the research focuses on the molecular and cellular basis of the behavioural changes. You will examine changes in the lepidopteran central nervous system, study viral invasion and localisation of both baculoviruses and covert infections, and validate candidate mechanisms using functional approaches such as RNAi and CRISPR/Cas9. The project combines behavioural assays with transcriptome, proteome, small RNA, microscopy, hybridisation, antibody labelling, and GFP-labelled virus work. The PhD sits within the Insect Virology group of the Laboratory of Virology at Wageningen University & Research, embedded in the Plant Sciences Group at Wageningen Campus. The group studies insect-virus interactions, virus discovery, covert infections, and the use of viruses for biological control. You will work in a collaborative environment with another PhD student and a postdoc on the larger project, and you will be supervised by Dr. Vera Ros and Prof. Monique van Oers. The role also includes contributing to teaching and supervising BSc and MSc students, and communicating results at conferences and in publications.