Supervisors: Professor Nigel Robinson and Professor Keith Lindsey

I completed my BSc undergraduate degree in biological sciences at Durham university. During my final year of the three year course, I specialised in “Biochemistry and Biotechnology”, “Crops for the Future” and “Stress and Responses to the Environment”. In particular, the Biochemistry course inspired me to pursue my PhD, giving me insight into the field of the biology of metals.

Project Title: POLARIS: A hypothetic copper delivery polypeptide for the two-component ethylene-sensor ETR1

Research in Professor Nigel Robinson’s laboratory focusses on metals in biology. One of the questions is how can cells control the speciation of each protein so that it may receive the correct metal for its function.

Promoter trapping experiments have previously identified the 36 amino acid POLARIS (PLS) in Arabidopsis seedling root tips. The pls mutant showed an enhanced ethylene response phenotype, which can be reversed by both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of ethylene action. ETR1, one of five ethylene receptors, requires an essential Cu(I) cofactor to function, delivered via a p₁-type ATPase, RAN1-dependent pathway.

 PLS contains two cysteine residues which are predicted to potentially co-ordinate Cu(I). This project explores the hypothesis that PLS co-ordinates Cu(I) and acts as an intermediary in the supply of copper within the ER between RAN1 and ETR1.

Other activities

This year I attended the Gordon research conference and seminar, “The cell biology of metals” hosted in Barcelona. The seminar was a two day event aimed at early career researchers, and the main five day conference hosted many senior researchers in the field. I presented my work in poster form at both meetings.