PhD on the role of programmed cell death during tomato fruit ripening

KU Leuven, Belgium

Updated: almost 2 years ago
Job Type: FullTime
Deadline: 01 Aug 2022

The fruit’s internal oxygen level is important in sustaining the metabolism of the fruit. If too low the fruit will suffocate. The internal oxygen levels are largely influenced by the fruit’s tissue structure. We have evidence that fruit are able to adapt their microstructure to their metabolic needs by, in a controlled way, inducing additional pores through programmed cell death (PCD), thus to allow enough oxygen to enter the fruit.

Your project will focus on tomato fruit which is an important model system to study climacteric fruit development. Given their relatively impermeable fruit skin, tomato fruit is expected to naturally develop internal gas gradients leading to local hypoxic regions. You will be studying the molecular mechanisms behind pore formation during tomato fruit ripening to unravel the contribution of PCD to this process. You will be studying physiological, structural, molecular, and nuclear markers of plant PCD in relation to pore formation. Special attention will go to the role of ethylene known to be involved in the regulation of both PCD and climacteric fruit ripening.


Similar Positions