IBIP seminar

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Functional interactomics for studying cell proliferation control in plants: tapping a road towards crop biotechnology

Geert De Jaeger
Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, Ghent University

At the very basis of cellular structure and function lie networks of short- and long-term molecular interactions. My research team develops interactomic tools for plants and runs a state of the art AP-MS platform for protein complex isolation. Through its high specificity and explanatory power, our platform steadily became a central–omics tool in our research department. Besides, it delivered data for more than 25% of all manuscripts containing AP-MS results, published worldwide. Complexes got isolated for hundreds of proteins involved in cell proliferation control leading towards protein discovery, functional analysis of protein complexes, and the mapping of protein networks. We started in cell cultures, but steadily moved towards Arabidopsis seedlings, to finally end up into crop plants. Their bigger organs make them particularly suitable for the study of complex function in a developmental context. We obtained proof of concept for the study of protein complex dynamics during leaf growth and demonstrate its use for organ growth engineering.

Contact : Benoît Lacombe

Contacts IBIP :
Sabine Zimmermann
Alexandre Martiniere
Christine Granier
Chantal Baracco