PhD position in Hormonal Regulation of Transcriptional Dynamics under the supervision of Drs David Alabadí and Javier Gallego-Bartolomé at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas (IBMCP), Valencia, Spain.
What are you going to do?
DELLA-dependent chromatin features during seedling adaptation to drought
You will work in a project about the transcriptional mechanisms by which DELLA proteins contribute to plant adaptation to drought. DELLAs are transcriptional regulators that are degraded in response to the hormone gibberellin (GA) and regulate different actors during transcription by physical interaction, e.g. transcription factors or transcription elongation factors. DELLAs have proven to be useful in agriculture, since the varieties responsible for the Green Revolution that took place in the 60s and 70s of the last century carried alleles with enhanced DELLA activity.. These alleles help the plant to cope with harsh environments, e.g. drought, however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are mostly unknown.
Your aim will be to identify the physiological, transcriptomic, epigenomic, and interactomic traits triggered by drought that are dependent on DELLAs. You will use Arabidopsis and oilseed rape plants, except for the identification of the drought-dependent DELLA interactome, which will be determined in Arabidopsis. To modulate DELLA levels in both species, you will use treatments with GAs and with the GA biosynthesis inhibitor paclobutrazol, and also GA/DELLA mutants in Arabidopsis. The experimental approaches will include RNA-seq to determine transcriptomic changes; Chromatin Immunoprecipitation coupled to sequencing (ChIP-seq) to determine the genomic distribution of DELLA, RNAPII, and selected epigenetic marks; ATAC-/MOA-seq to infer chromatin accessibility; and AP/MS to define DELLA protein networks. You will infer the underlying mechanisms of DELLA action by performing meta-analyses that integrate the phenotypic, transcriptomic, epigenomic, and interactomic data.
To achieve this goal, you will actively collaborate with academic partners at CBGP-CSIC (Madrid), University of Amsterdam, University of Regensburg and ENS (Paris) to get not only specific training in molecular approaches, but also intellectual input that will be valuable to the progress of your project. You will also receive training on the phenotyping of oilseed rape traits at the facilities of one of the industrial partners, DSV.
What do you have to offer?
- MSc in Molecular Biology, Plant Science, or any related science.
- Knowledge in molecular biology.
- Background in epigenetics and/or transcription.
- Knowledge or motivation for training in bioinformatics will be valued.
Our offer
The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of three years according to the employment rules of Spain and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). It will, in line with the duration of the PhD studies in the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), be extended for an additional year according to the employment rules of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC). A Personal Career Development Plan will be drafted that includes the attendance to EpiSeedLink courses and meetings. The gross monthly salary will be according to the MSCA programme, taking into account the country-specific correction coefficient. Besides the salary, the PhD student will obtain a mobility allowance (see page Requirements and Conditions). Positions are aimed at being full-time, but by exception, if needed for family reasons, part-time appointments are possible.
About us
The Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (IBMCP) established in 1992, is a joint research center of the CSIC, the largest research institution in Spain, and the UPV. It is located in the Campus of the UPV in Valencia, very close to sea shore. Its main activity is to carry out cutting-edge and quality scientific research about key processes driving plant growth and development and their ability to adapt to the environment. More than 200 students of many different nationalities have obtained the doctorate degree in our institute. It currently houses 29 research groups, with 41 senior researchers, 10 career track fellows, 50 postdocs and 66 predocs.
Any questions?
Do you have any questions, or do you require additional information? Please contact: Drs David Alabadí; dalabadi@ibmcp.upv.es, phone: +34 963877723 ext 77723 and Javier Gallego-Bartolomé; jagalbar@ibmcp.upv.es, phone: +34 963877856 ext 78675.