Missions

A researcher position in plant molecular biology is open within the Evolution and Diversity of Plant Metabolism team.
The successful candidate will join an ANR-funded project investigating karrikin-pathway–dependent communication mediated by volatile sesquiterpenes in petunia. Plants use their capacity to produce volatile organic compounds to communicate between organs. In petunia, sesquiterpene VOCs emitted from the bud are transported to the pistils where they act as signals that enable normal pistil development and seed production.
The project aims to identify the signalling molecule and to determine the biosynthetic pathway responsible for its production in petunia.

Activities

The successful candidate will primarily develop and apply targeted and untargeted metabolomics approaches to identify candidate metabolites, analyze transcriptomic datasets to identify genes encoding enzymes involved in the metabolic pathway, clone, express and purify candidate enzymes and validate their enzymatic activity, and contribute to the characterization of the signal molecule/receptor complex.
The successful candidate will collaborate with and discuss results with team and consortium members and communicate research findings through seminars, publications and conferences

Skills

- Degree required: Doctorate (PhD) in plant biology or molecular biology.
- Practical experience or strong interest in experimental work with plants.
- Strong theoretical knowledge and hands-on experimental skills in molecular biology and biochemistry.
- Skills in protein expression/purification and/or metabolomics analyses.
- Previous work on plant metabolism highly desirable.
- Proficiency in scientific English, both written and spoken

Work Context

The successful candidate will join the Institute of Plant Molecular Biology (http://www.ibmp.cnrs.fr/) in Strasbourg, on the Esplanade campus. An administrative cafeteria is a 5‑minute walk from the institute. The institute is easily accessible by public transport (bus or tram).
The IBMP is the largest CNRS research unit dedicated to plant science. It currently brings together 20 research teams and numerous technological platforms.
The successful candidate will join the “Evolution and Diversity of Plant Metabolism” team led by Prof. E. Gaquerel. The team includes an engineering assistant, a senior lecturer, two research scientists, two professors, a research director and currently two PhD students (University of Strasbourg).
The recruited scientist will be supervised by J.-E. Bassard (research scientist), will collaborate with the partners of the ANR VolCom project and will have access to the institute's platforms.

Constraints and risks

Typical conditions and risks of a postdoctoral position in a research laboratory, including laboratory work, adherence to safety protocols, participation in team meetings, and occasional travel for collaborations or conferences.