PhD (M/F) in molecular biology and genetcs of plants

The thesis project will be carried out in the team "Maintenance and segregation of the mitochondrial genome" directed by José Gualberto, at the Institute of Plant Molecular Biology (IBMP), in Strasbourg. The IBMP is a CNRS unit associated with the University of Strasbourg. The team is interested in the mechanisms that control the maintenance, segregation and repair of the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of plants, as well as in the anterograde (nucleus to organelles) and retrograde (organelles to nucleus) regulatory processes that manage its expression. The team is currently composed of a research director, a lecturer, a PhD student, a post-doctoral fellow and a research engineer. For more information about the team and the Institute, please visit its website: http://www.ibmp.cnrs.fr/equipes/maintenance-et-segregation-du-genome-mit...
The candidate will work in the framework of the ANR MIT2DR project, in close collaboration with Cécile Raynaud, from the ChromD team at IPS2 (Paris-Saclay). A co-direction of the thesis is envisaged.

Mitochondria function depends on the maintenance and expression of its genome, the mtDNA, as well as on the tight coordination with the nuclear genome that is essential for energy homeostasis, plant fitness and response to stresses. All genomes are exposed to environmental and metabolic stresses that compromise their integrity, and cells have evolved surveillance checkpoints to coordinate cell-cycle progression with DNA repair, thereby ensuring faithful transmission of their genomes. While these mechanisms are well known for the nuclear DNA, the mitochondrial genetic compartment has received little attention.
Exploiting Arabidopsis mutants deficient in mtDNA repair and targeted mtDNA editing by TALEN nucleases, the project proposes to dissect the retrograde (mitochondria-to-nucleus) signaling cascades regulating the cellular response to mitochondrial DNA damage and thus to decipher how mtDNA damage impinges on plant development. The project will combine state-of-the-art genomic, genetic, biochemical and cytology approaches, and will explore cellular and transcriptional responses through transcriptome analysis, to identify changes in nuclear gene expression caused by mtDNA damage, and epigenome profiling, to reveal chromatin changes associated to transcriptome reprogramming. Early responses will be studied using inducible TALEN exonucleases.