The Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) is a remarkable organelle with multifaceted functions, serving as the epicenter of protein synthesis, modification, and

气候变化是对全球粮食生产的最大威胁之一，导致不可预测的天气模式和病原体的地理迁移。作为固着生物，植物必须对原地不断变化的环境做出反应，并发展出复杂的感知和反应系统来缓解环境胁迫。植物通过质膜上的受体激酶来感知物理环境刺激，如病原体、细胞壁变化或控制植物发育的激素。我们发现，激活的受体复合体的正确组装不仅受蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用的影响，还受蛋白质-脂类和脂-脂相互作用的影响。因此，有必要在膜环境的背景下了解受体蛋白复合体。使用新的技术来创建包含蛋白质复合体及其伴随的膜脂的膜纳米盘，我们发现天真的受体形成~300 kDa的复合体，但一旦与配体结合，就会迅速形成大于1个丙二醛的复合体。这比任何假想的受体复合体都要大，这表明以前的工作忽略了这些受体复合体如何形成和功能的许多关键方面。使用拮抗植物受体FLS2(细菌免疫)和BRI1(植物发育的激素调节)作为测试案例，您将定义活性和非活性复合体的蛋白质组和脂体。使用遗传和分子技术，然后你将研究在每个复合体中发现的新的蛋白质成分在免疫或植物发育中的作用。您还将通过遗传或化学方法操作与激活的复合体相关的膜脂成分，以确定它们如何影响复合体的形成、稳定性或信号传递效率。这些知识将提供对植物如何感知和响应外部环境以及缓解环境变化的实质性理解。该项目将提供分子生物学、蛋白质生物化学、亲和和尺寸排除层析、定量植物发育和免疫生物学、植物遗传学、共聚焦显微镜、植物转化和质谱学蛋白质组学和脂类组学方面的培训。您将加入一个多样化和协作的实验室，有机会参加国际会议和广泛的科学和可转移技能培训。最近对高级植物生长中心和国际大麦中心的6500万英镑投资确保了邓迪和圣安德鲁斯除了拥有世界领先的生化、分子、脂肪和蛋白质组专业知识和设施外，还拥有尖端的植物生长设施。

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to global food production, leading to unpredictable weather patterns and geographical migration of pathogens. As sessile organisms, plants must respond to a changing environment in situ and have developed complex systems of perception and response to mitigate against environmental stress. Plants perceive physical environmental stimuli, such as pathogens, cell wall changes or hormones governing plant development, through receptor kinases in the plasma membrane. We have found that the correct assembly of activated receptor complexes is governed not only by protein-protein interactions but also by protein-lipid and lipid-lipid interactions. It is therefore necessary to understand the receptor protein complex in the context of its membrane environment. Using novel techniques to create membrane nanodiscs containing protein complexes and their attendant membrane lipids we have found that naïve receptors form ~300 kDa complexes, but upon ligand binding rapidly form complexes greater than 1 MDa. This is larger than any hypothesised receptor complex, suggesting that previous work has missed many crucial aspects of how these receptor complexes form and function. Using the antagonistic plant receptors FLS2 (bacterial immunity) and BRI1 (hormonal regulation of plant development) as test cases, you will define the proteome and lipidome of active and inactive complexes. Using genetic and molecular techniques you will then investigate novel protein components found in each complex for a role in either immunity or plant development. You will also manipulate the membrane lipid components found associated with the activated complex by genetic or chemical means to determine how they impact upon complex formation, stability or signalling efficiency. This knowledge will provide substantial understanding of how plants perceive and respond to their external environment and mitigate against environmental change. This project will provide training in molecular biology, protein biochemistry, affinity and size-exclusion chromatography, quantitative plant developmental and immunity biology, plant genetics, confocal microscopy, plant transformation and mass spectrometry proteomics and lipidomics. You will join a diverse and collaborative lab with opportunities for international conference attendance and a wide range of scientific and transferrable skills training. Recent ~£65 million investment in the Advanced Plant Growth Centre and International Barley Hub ensure that cutting edge plant growth facilities are available, in addition to the world leading biochemical, molecular, lipidomic and proteomic expertise and facilities at Dundee and St. Andrews.