Development and exploitation of new molecular tools to understand rhamnogalacturonan-II metabolism in plants

Most plants cells have a wall protecting them from environmental stress and diseases caused by pathogens.

The cell wall is made up of a network of complex carbohydrates including rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II), a major component of pectin.

RG-II is the most complex carbohydrate in nature and has been shown to play a critical role in plant growth, development, and protection from environmental stresses.

Mutations altering the structure and composition of RG-II for example have been shown to lead to strong developmental phenotypes or lethality and decreased crop yields.

RG-II components have been shown to be targeted by plant pathogens responsible for significant crop losses in agriculture and recently in the human diet by beneficial species of the human gut microbiota a key player in host-microbial interactions.

Despite its importance and potential, we know very little about how RG-II is made and how it performs its functions due to its complex nature and lack of appropriate tools to study it.

I have recently developed a molecular tool box including a genetic approach using the gut microbe Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron to generate diverse chemically defined RG-II-derived oligosaccharides, RG-II-degrading enzymes and recently new RG-II binding proteins and oligosaccharides.

I will expand this toolbox, generate high-throughput technologies and later exploit them to enhance our understanding of RG-II biosynthesis in plants.

This work will form the foundation to allow fine modulation of RG-II structures for both plant and human health benefit.I am a British national and I completed my PhD at Newcastle University (UK) through a UK commonwealth scholarship. I have significant experience in glycobiology, microbial genetics and enzymology.

At Boku University I will have the opportunity to develop skills in synthetic chemistry, glycan array development and exploitation and plant protein expression in various hosts including human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and purification