Project Description:

Plants are amazing sentient beings that communicate with their neighbors through chemical signalling. The communication between plants has implications in the improvement of agriculture, horticulture and biofuel crops. Specifically, this project aims to determining how plants uptake and sense volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) from their environment. We will conduct studies on molecular diffusion of VOCs in model plant systems such as Arabidopsis, tobacco and petunia flowers. We also will study the transcriptomic and proteomic responses to determine the signal transduction cascade of how plants sense molecules emitted from other plants. Isolation of the molecular players involved in uptake and sensing molecules can allow one improve crop productivity.

Start Date:

January 2023

Postdoc Qualifications:

Ph.D. in chemical or biological engineering or plant sciences

Experience with liquid or gas chromatography for analysis of small molecules.

Molecular biology of plants is preferred but not necessary.

Background in transcriptomics and/or proteomics is also ideal but not absolutely required.

Co-Advisors:

John A. Morgan, jamorgan@purdue.edu, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering

Natalia Dudareva, doudarev@purdue.edu, Department of Biochemistry

Bibliography:

1. Emission of volatile organic compounds from petunia flowers is facilitated by an ABC transporter
F Adebesin, JR Widhalm, B Boachon, F Lefèvre, B Pierman, JH Lynch, ...
Science 356 (6345), 1386-1388

2. Rethinking how volatiles are released from plant cells
JR Widhalm, R Jaini, JA Morgan, N Dudareva
Trends in plant science 20 (9), 545-550

3. Plant volatiles: going ‘in’but not ‘out’of trichome cavities
A Tissier, JA Morgan, N Dudareva
Trends in plant science 22 (11), 930-938

4. Boachon B, Lynch JH, Ray S, Yuan J, Caldo KMP, Junker RR, Kessler SA, Morgan JA, Dudareva N. 2019. Natural fumigation as a mechanism for volatile transport between flower organs. Nature Chem. Biol., 15: 583-588.