Project title: “Characterisation of putative effectors of protist parasites of brown algae.”

 

 

Advisors: Sigrid Neuhauser, Claire Gachon, Wolfgang Lechner

Home institution: Universität Innsbruck 

Summary: Brown algae and their associated pathogens play an important role in marine ecosystems, influencing biodiversity and ecosystem stability. The phytomyxean pathogen Maullinia ectocarpii is an obligate biotroph known to infect ecologically and economically important brown algae, such as Ectocarpus and Macrocystis. Despite its relevance, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying this infection. M. ectocarpii, like many biotrophic parasites, is thought to secrete effector proteins that manipulate host cellular processes to support infection. 

The aim of my PhD project is to identify and characterize key effector proteins involved in M. ectocarpii infections. Using a combination of molecular, physiological, and computational approaches, the project investigates how these effectors function during infection, their impact on host responses, and how changing temperatures may influence infection dynamics. 

Planned secondment(s): 
At CNRS-Roscoff with Yacine Badis to use an existing yeast two hybrid system to screen brown algal proteins for interaction with effectors 
At MNHN with Claire Gachon to screen the elicitation of a defence response on a taxonomically diverse range of red and brown seaweeds with heterologously expressed effectors 
At Parityqc to pilot quantum computation algorithms for the modelling of 3D Protein structure of selected effectors.

Published on: 20/01/2024 14:35 - Updated on: 23/04/2025 16:38