Post-doctoral position in bioorganic chemistry (24 months) - Identification, synthesis and chemical characterization of mating type hormones of the grapevine downy mildew pathogen (Plasmopara viticola)

Back to jobs listing

INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

We are looking for a highly motivated post-doctoral chemist to explore the synthesis of microbial signaling molecules for the development of new control strategies against grapevine downy mildew.

 

The project focuses on the major crop pathogen Plasmopara viticola that causes grapevine downy mildew.

We aim to identify molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the induction of the sexual reproduction of P. viticola. In this species, mating occurs between diploid individuals of different mating-types (heterothallic species). The communication between mating-types through hormones production has been described in an oomycete model species, Phytophthora infestans, the agent of potato late blight. The structure and stereochemistry of the Phytophthora mating hormone, called the a1 hormone, has been well characterized by Qi et al. (2005). This hormone induced the production of sexual spores on the counter-mating type at a nanogram level. It has also been shown to be functional for other Phytophthora species (Tomura et al. 2017). Various synthesis pathways of this hormone involve lengthy syntheses with a number of steps ranging from 12 to 18, leading to very low overall yields.

The aim of this post-doctoral project is to contribute to the total synthesis of the a1 hormone in order to test its role in grapevine mildew reproduction. At the same time, we will seek to extract and isolate the specific hormone for grape downy mildew in crosses between strains of different mating types carried out in grapevine leaves.

 

Synthetic and biochemical parts of the project will supervised by the Institut des Sciences Moléculaires (ISM) UMR5255 – CNRS/Université de Bordeaux. The biological part of the project will be supervised by INRAE Bordeaux (Vineyard Agroecology, UMR 1065). The successful applicant will develop skills in total organic synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, chemistry of natural compounds and structural characterization.

References

Qi, J., Asano, T., Jinno, M., Matsui, K., Atsumi, K., Sakagami, Y., & Ojika, M. (2005). Characterization of a Phytophthora mating hormone. Science, 309(5742), 1828-1828.

Tomura, T., Molli, S. D., Murata, R., & Ojika, M. (2017). Universality of the Phytophthora mating hormones and diversity of their production profile. Scientific reports, 7(1), 5007.

For questions about the position, please contact:

• François Delmotte (francois.delmotte@inrae.fr)
• Svitlana Poix (svitlana.poix@u-bordeaux.fr )

¡ References of the host lab

Dussert, Y., Legrand, L., Mazet, I. D., Couture, C., Piron, M. C., Serre, R. F., ... & Delmotte, F. 2020. Identification of the first oomycete mating-type locus sequence in the grapevine downy mildew pathogen, Plasmopara viticola. Current Biology, 30(20), 3897-3907.

Paineau, M., Minio, A., Mestre, P., Fabre, F., Mazet, I. D., Couture, C., ... & Delmotte, F. 2024. Multiple deletions of candidate effector genes lead to the breakdown of partial grapevine resistance to downy mildew. New Phytologist, 243(4), 1490-1505.

Chen, L., De Longhi, E., Pons, A., Buffeteau, T., Daugey, N., Redon, P., ... & Darriet, P. (2023). Identification, Quantitation, and Sensory Evaluation of Thiols in Bordeaux Red Wine with Characteristic Aging Bouquet. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 71(43), 16248-16259.

Suhas, E., Shinkaruk, S., & Pons, A. (2024). Optimizing the identification of thiols in red wines using new oak-wood accelerated reductive treatment. Food Chemistry, 437, 137859.

Training and skills

• PhD in organic chemistry, bioorganic chemistry and chemistry of natural compounds, strong interest in total organic synthesis, multi-step synthetic strategies, retrosynthetic analysis, experience in organic synthesis and purification, structural analysis.
• Skills: Motivation and enthusiasm for research are key. Proven skills in writing scientific publications.

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter