Project properties
Title Investigating the role of Cysteine-rich Receptor Kinases in Reactive Oxygen Species sensing in plants
Group Biochemistry, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits 24-36
Supervisor(s) Sergio Martín-Ramírez
Examiner(s) Elwira Smakowska-Luzan
Contact info sergio.martinramirez@wur.nl
Begin date 2023/07/01
End date 2024/12/31
Description Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are highly reactive molecules used as secondary messengers for many physiological and stress-related processes in plants. ROS can be produced in several different subcellular compartments such as mitochondria, chloroplasts, or the extracellular space (apoplast). A hallmark of many signalling events such as the immune response against bacterial pathogens is the rapid accumulation of ROS in the apoplast (ROS burst). Despite the extensive research in ROS signalling, it is not yet known how ROS are perceived in the apoplast. Cysteine-rich Receptor Kinases (CRKs) have been hypothesized to play a role in sensing ROS in the apoplast due to the number and reactivity of the cysteine residues in their extracellular domain.

The hypothesis of this project is that CRKs sense the redox status of the apoplast by oxidative modifications in their extracellular domain, which then modulate interactions with other signalling components and thus relay the information to a downstream signalling cascade intracellularly.

The aim of this project is studying in depth protein-protein interactions between plasma membrane receptors in planta from candidates previously selected from an in vitro high-throughput screen as part of a functional validation project.
The studies will include protein-protein interaction techniques such as Agrobacterium-mediated transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana followed by Western Blot, Co-Immunoprecipitation or fluorescence microscopy techniques such as confocal imaging, FRET-FLIM, etc.



Used skills Molecular biology. Cloning strategies, Western Blot, Co-Immunoprecipitation, fluorescence microscopy, physiological studies in planta.
Requirements Depends on study program
Basic understanding of plant biology