Uncovering the signaling roles of inositol polyphosphates in plant growth and development
Inositol polyphosphates (InsPs), particularly their pyrophosphate derivatives (PP-InsPs), are recently characterized as signaling molecules present in all eukaryotes. Extensive research has been conducted on the PP-InsP pathway revealing its impacts on organogenesis and various diseases such as cancer metastasis, obesity, and diabetes. Cellular PP-InsPs exist in low concentrations, complex isoforms, and turnover fast, therefore, making them a real challenge to monitor and to analyze. This restricts the PP-InsP study especially on defining their specific roles or putatively variable distribution among cells/tissues. To solve the problem, this project aims to create cellular reporters for monitoring PP-InsPs in real-time. Given the PP-InsP pathway is conserved, the development of the PP-InsP sensors in plants will have a broader impact on the study of to the fundamental characteristics of PP-InsP signaling in animals. For example, the transfer of the PP-InsP reporters to cancer cell lines for possibility to use it for better understanding of PP-InsP-regulated cancer metastasis in the future.
Study of the rare earth elements selective detection in Pseudomonas putida and development of chelating architectures
Rare earths (REE) are widely used in high technology, and demand for REE is set to double over the next 30 years. The selective extraction and recycling of REE has a triple challenge: economic, technological and ecological. Currently, less than 1% of REEs are recycled. What's more, extraction methods are tedious and polluting. They require several stages with acids or solvents. The discovery in 2011 of enzymes that naturally use light REE has opened up new prospects. The development of biosourced methods could be a key element in unlocking current selectivity and extraction barriers. This thesis is part of the biotechnologies of tomorrow theme. The aim of this thesis is to acquire fundamental data on the molecular mechanism of a biological system for selective TR perception in order to take advantage of it for the development of selective chelating architectures. To do this, a screen based on the use of fluorescent reporters that respond specifically to certain TRs will be used. Cell biology, biochemistry, and in silico analysis techniques using artificial intelligence tools will be used to accomplish this project. The results obtained will identify: 1) the molecular mechanism of TR detection, 2) the factors influencing selectivity, and 3) the development of selective chelating architectures based on 1) and 2).