Bacterial cell envelope remodelling in Rhizobium leguminosarum: contribution to symbiosis and resistance to abiotic stress

The aim of this project is to investigate how bacterial cell envelope remodelling by Ldts contributes to symbiosis (in pea and bean) and to resistance to abiotic stress (heat, osmotic pressure, or acidic conditions). We will also investigate peptidoglycan structure and dynamics across rhizobium isolates to understand how cell envelope

composition impacts persistence and fitness in the soil. This project will lay the foundation to engineer Rhizobium strains for sustainable agriculture. This multidisciplinary project involves 3 academic supervisors with complementary expertise, based in Sheffield (where most of the experimental work will be

carried out), York and Oxford. The student will benefit from a training in biochemistry (HPLC and mass spectrometry for peptidoglycan structural analysis, recombinant protein expression, enzymatic assays), bacterial genetics (construction of mutants), comparative genomics and rhizobium-plant interactions. The student will also spend 4

months abroad working with the industrial partner (Protein Metrics, California) to contribute to the development of software tools dedicated to "peptidoglycomics" analyses. Overall, the student will acquire a comprehensive set of skills to explore mechanistic insights at molecular and cellular level in bacteria, and in the context of the

interaction with the plant.