Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) is one of the strongest research environments for basic plant research in Europe. Research at UPSC covers a wide range of disciplines in plant biology including ecology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology (see www.upsc.se). The postdoctoral fellowship is going to be placed at the Department of Plant Physiology, which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre. Our common goal is to understand plants ability to adapt and acclimate to a changing world. We are looking for a highly motivated postdoc for the project "Pathogen resistance is dependent on changed metabolism" in Johannes Hanson's research group. Last day to apply is the 1st of May.

Project description

Energy levels is monitored to optimize cellular metabolism and physiology in all living cells. In plants this is regulated primarily by kinases Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and Snf1 related kinase 1 (SnRK1) with opposing activities. The kinases operate at cellular level but regulate tissue specific processes as well as general physiology of the plant. The candidate will join a team focused on understanding the molecular details of these signaling pathways. The project is focused on how metabolism is affected by and affects plant defense responses. We have taken an Arabidopsis cell culture-based approach to be able to study the signaling pathways minute by minute. We want to understand how a specific group of plant transcription factors are affected by pathogen derived effectors to direct metabolic change in favor of the attacking pathogen. By understanding the mechanism, we hope to increase plant resilience to pathogen attack. The project involves RNASeq and Chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches as well generation of transgenes and transgenic cell lines using Crispr/CAS9. Changed metabolism will be analyzed using GC- and LC-MS instrumentation in close cooperation with the Swedish Metabolomic Centre (www.swedishmetabolomicscentre.se).

The stipend is granted for 2 years with start 1 June 2019 or by agreement. The tax-free stipend is financed by the Kempe foundation and amounts to 288 000 SEK per year.

Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC) is one of the strongest research environments for basic plant research in Europe. Research at UPSC covers a wide range of disciplines in plant biology including ecology, genetics, physiology, biochemistry, cell biology and molecular biology (see www.upsc.se). Our common goal is to understand the plants ability to adapt and acclimate to a changing world. A PhD student position is open at the Department of Plant Physiology, which is part of Umeå Plant Science Centre. We are looking for a highly motivated PhD student to work within the project “Understanding the regulation of energy metabolism” in Johannes Hanson’s research group at UPSC. Application is open until 31 May 2019.

Project description

Energy levels is monitored to optimize cellular metabolism and physiology in all living cells. In plants is this regulated primarily by two kinases Target of Rapamycin (TOR) and Snf1 related kinase 1 (SnRK1) with opposing activities. The kinases operate at cellular level but regulate tissue specific processes as well as general physiology of the plant. The candidate will join a team focused on understanding the molecular details of these signaling pathways. We have taken a cell-culture based approach to be able to follow the signaling pathways minute for minute. We are using polysomal profiling to follow translational changes and biochemical approaches to identify factors important for these changes. The project is focused on understanding the translational gene regulation in response to changed metabolic status. We are studying translational changes using RiboSeq and based on these results, we will identify regulatory factors and characterize their mode of action.

Postdoctoral fellowship in Stéphanie Robert’s group at the Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC)

Last day to apply: 31 March 2019

Most organisms integrate environmental and endogenous stimuli via various signaling pathways that induce developmental responses. This is especially important in plants because of their sessile life style and their capacity to grow continuously and adapt their architecture according to the environmental conditions. The long-term goal of our research is to understand the signaling mechanisms regulating plant growth and development (https://www.upsc.se/stephanie_robert).

The first phase of this project has already been performed - by applying an innovative chemical genomic strategy; some novel small molecules have been identified with the potential to modulate cell-to-cell adhesion in plants. As the continuation of the project, the candidate postdoc fellow will aim at dissecting the modes of action of these molecules. This project will be conducted in direct collaboration with the Verger’s group (https://www.upsc.se/stephane_verger).

You can find more information about possible project or exam works (Master thesis) at the Umeå Plant Science Centre here:

https://www.upsc.se/undergraduate/1430-undergraduate-education.html
It is also possible to do your Bachelor thesis at the Umeå Plant Science Centre. Please contact the leader of the group you would like to work with directly. You can find a list with all group leaders here:

UPSC group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/research-groups.html
UPSC associated group leaders: https://www.upsc.se/research/associated-research-groups.html