2 PhD or 1 post-doc position available:

Interactome of protein splice variants in ABA signaling pathways

a novel mechanistic mode controling ABI2 signaling pathway

Summary:

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone involved in response to stress and other environmental cues. Plant genes extensively undergo alternative splicing (AS). Many AS outcomes lead to the production of truncated, dominant-negative protein isoforms functionally interfering with the downstream processes.

ABI2, a central component of the ABA signaling pathway in Arabidopsis, exhibits physiologically relevant, evolutionally conserved AS event, leading to retention of its last intron. Our preliminary data indicate that AS changes the ability of ABI2 to selectively associate with several known interactors, besides that of the prototypical ABA signaling pathway.

Merging the expertise in genetics, interactomics and structural biophysics, we aim to generate a mechanistic model to describe the mode of interaction of the canonical and dominant-negative ABI2 splice variants with other proteins connected with ABA signaling cascade. We also propose to study the physiological aspects of this AS event with respect to the changes in the protein-protein interactions identified.

Supervisor/Mentor:

Kamil Růžička
Laboratory of Hormonal Regulations in Plants
Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences
Rozvojová 263, 165 02 Prague, Czech Republic

We offer:

Funded 3-year position with the possibility for extension, inspiring enviroment of a small international group, solid material support, state-of-art institutional facilities.

The position is available immediately, but the starting date of the contract is negotiable. Apply now!

We expect:

Motivation, creativity, enthusiasm.

Post doc, in addition: proven experience with one or more of the methods listed below and a decent publication record.

Methods:

Molecular cloning, advanced microscopy, proteomics, developmental genetics, transcriptomics

Collaborators:

Roman Pleskot (Inst Exp Bot, Prague, CZ), Rainer Waadt (University of Münster, DE), Maria Kalyna (BOKU Vienna, AT)

Contact:

kamil.ruzicka@ueb.cas.cz; Laboratory of Hormonal Regulations in Plants, RNA Processing Group

References:

Timofeyenko et al. (2023), New Phytol. 10.1111/nph.18799
Kashkan et al. (2022), New Phytol. 233(1):329-343
Kashkan et al. (2022), Quant Plant Biol 3:e14