ANR-funded PhD position in structural biology of IDP and protein-membrane interaction by NMR spectroscopy

Project: This ANR-funded project is focused on exploring the role and the assembly mechanisms of plant-specific proteins called REMORINs (REMs). REMORINs are crucial hub proteins involved in plant defense against viral propagation by regulating cell-to-cell connectivity and are tightly associated in the assembly of nanodomains at the plant plasma membrane (PM). The different group of REMs label distinct domains of the PM. They possess a N-terminal domain that is intrinsically disordered (IDP) and a C-terminal domain interaction with specific anionic lipids at the PM. REMORIN contain phosphorylation sites and the exact biological function of phosphorylation and its impact on the structural architecture and protein-lipid interaction remain unexplored.

Here we aim at investigating the structural and dynamic organization of REMORIN, in its full-length form as well as in the context of the isolated IDP and the C-terminal membrane-bound domain. Solid-state and solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) will be the main methods to decipher at atomic detail the role of phosphorylation during the protein-membrane targeting. Several partners interacting with the IDP have been identified and we aim at deciphering how phosphorylation and protein-protein interaction will impact the conformational state of REMORIN. In parallel, cell-to-cell connectivity experiments and in planta imaging of fluorescently tagged-proteins will be performed to correlate how phosphorylation-dependent protein-protein interaction is linked to viral response.

Laboratory: http://www.loquetlab.org/ Our laboratory is fully equipped for molecular biology, protein expression and purification. We manage the NMR platform of the IECB/CBMN in Bordeaux (France), including 300, 500, 600, 700 and 800MHz NMR spectrometers.

Project Partner: The PhD candidate will work at the IECB and will be strongly involved in a collaboration with the team of Sebastien Mongrand, located at the LBM nearby IECB (5km). The candidate will spend a part of the thesis in the Mongrand laboratory to perform confocal microscopy, cell-to-cell connectivity measurements and virus infection in plants

Description: The IECB (Bordeaux, France) is an international research center at the interface between biology and chemistry, equipped for structural biology with NMR, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM platforms. Our laboratory “NMR of Molecular Assemblies” is interested in molecular interactions in large biological assemblies and aims at understanding the structure-function interplay. In particular, we develop and apply state-of-the-art solid-state NMR spectroscopy to study atomic architectures and interactions of biological assemblies.

Highly motivated candidates should send applications including CV and names of two references to Antoine Loquet (a.loquet@iecb.u-bordeaux.fr) and Birgit Habenstein (b.habenstein@iecb.u-bordeaux.fr). Advantageous expertise includes: interest in structural biology, experience in production and purification of proteins and / or experience in solid-state or solution NMR.

Starting date: Available

Selected publications of the two groups on REMORINs:

Nanodomain Clustering of the Plant Protein Remorin by Solid-State NMR.

Front Mol Biosci. 2019

Mechanisms governing subcompartmentalization of biological membranes.

Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2019

REM1.3's phospho-status defines its plasma membrane nanodomain organization and activity in restricting PVX cell-to-cell movement.

PLoS Pathog. 2018

Coiled-coil oligomerization controls localization of the plasma membrane REMORINs.

J Struct Biol. 2019

Structural basis for plant plasma membrane protein dynamics and organization into functional nanodomains.

Elife. 2017