- Department / Institute
- Faculty of Biology, Plant Molecular Biology
- Subject area
- Genetics, cell biology, physiology
- Project title
- Regulators of chloroplast signalling
- Name of supervisor
- Prof. Dario Leister
- Number of open positions
- 1
- Language requirements
- Proficiency in English
- Academic requirements
- 4-year Bachelor's plus Master's Degree; at the time of application, the last final exam should have taken place in the past 4 years.
- Study model
- Full doctoral study model: 36 or 48 months
Project description
In chloroplast signalling, the chloroplast communicates its state to the rest of the cell, in particular the nucleus, to adjust the expression of nuclear-encoded proteins targeted to the organelle. While the plastid protein GUN1 is known to play a critical role in this type of signalling in young plants, we found that GUN1 also plays a role in adult plants and in cold acclimation. In this project, we are identifying and characterising proteins that functionally interact with GUN1. To this end, we have used genetic screens to identify a number of candidate proteins awaiting characterisation, and we are initiating novel screens. In this project, students will learn and apply techniques from genetics, molecular biology and biochemistry.
References
Richter AS, Nägele T, Grimm B, Kaufmann K, Schroda M, Leister D, Kleine T (2023) Retrograde signaling in plants: A critical review focusing on the GUN pathway and beyond. Plant Commun 4:100511. doi: 10.1016/j.xplc.2022.100511.
For further information, please contact Dario Leister: leister@lmu.de