Structural characterisation of cellular mechanisms for the valorisation of water resources

Phosphorus is essential to all living organisms but limited in its biological active form while at the same time representing a major contaminant in waste water. A potential solution to the P problem is to optimize the mechanisms for phosphate acquisition in photosynthetic organisms (algae and plants) which can have a double impact: 1) reduction of fertilization in agricultural soils and 2) exploitation of sustainable systems, based on algae biology, for purification of waste water. In this project you will use cryogenic correlative light and electron microscopy and other structural techniques to investigate the mechanisms of P sensing, signaling and accumulation in plants and unicellular algae. This is an exciting and novel cross-disciplinary area of research that take advantage of new techniques and evolutionary divergent systems to identify new strategies for the efficient use of limited P by plants and the use of solar powered microalgae to recover P from waste water and recycle it into agriculture. The work will be supported by world class facilities within the Faculty of Biological Sciences and the Astbury Centre for structural characterization using cryoelectron-microscopy and electron-tomography and by a supervisory team with complementary expertise in molecular, structural and cell biology in different model organisms.