Project properties

Title Investigating the mechanisms of polar protein localisation in plant cells
Group Biochemistry, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 21-39
Supervisor(s) Evgeniya Pukhovaya
Examiner(s) Prof. Dr. Dolf Weijers
Contact info evgeniya.pukhovaya@wur.nl
Begin date 2023/03/01
End date 2025/03/01
Description For the multicellular organism development, cells must feel the direction to divide and grow. That is why the cells are polar – they have asymmetrical distribution of organelles and molecules. In plants, the mechanisms that establish cell asymmetry are not known even though some proteins have polar distribution. The goal of the project is to find molecular pathways and mechanisms that regulate asymmetrical distribution of proteins in the root meristem cells in Arabidopsis. It will be achieved by validating protein-protein interactions of polar proteins with their potential regulators and finding out their functional relevance for establishment and maintenance of cell polarity.

Further reading:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.01.011
10.1093/plcell/koab203
Used skills Cloning, confocal microscopy, protein-protein interaction assays (BiFC), Arabidopsis transformation, N. bentamiana agrobacterium infiltration; for longer projects – IP-MS, CRISPR mutagenesis
Requirements Basic understanding of molecular biology, cell biology and genetics; interest in developmental biology and fundamental plant science