Supervisor(s): 

Dr Ehmke Pohl and Professor Marc Knight

I started studying Chemistry at Durham University in 2013 and graduated in 2017 with a MChem. My research interests include structural biology, chemical biology and plant signalling.

Unravelling the Role of Pyrabactin Resistance Proteins in Plant Stress Responses and Plant Development 

Significant efforts have been made over the last decade to deconvolute the mechanisms behind abscisic acid (ABA) signalling in plants.  ABA plays a significant role in plant transcription and physiological regulation.  At the heart of ABA signalling is the PYL/ PYR/ RCAR family, a set of 14 soluble receptor proteins that coordinate ABA-mediated processes.  This project aims to explore the relationship of PYL/PYR/RCAR proteins with eW5, a novel ligand that shows positive modulation of early plant growth and is hypothesised to interact with the PYL/PYR/RCAR family.

A combination of biophysical, structural and chemical techniques will be used to determine the mechanism of eW5’s action.

This project is undertaken in collaboration with Tozer Seeds, a vegetable breeding company based in Surrey.