Title: Disease, immunity and pathogen recognition in marine seaweeds: a physiological and genomic investigation Supervisors: Dr Claire Gachon

Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA claire.gachon@sams.ac.uk Dr J.M. Cock and Dr Philippe Potin CNRS UMR Station Biologique de Rosocoff, 29682 Roscoff cedex, France. cock@sb-roscoff.fr; potin@sb-roscoff.fr Introduction Brown algae (Phaeophyta) are multicellular marine organisms that diverged from animals and land plants over a billion years ago. They are predominant primary producers in temperate and cold coastal seas, and of relevance to the rapidly-expanding aquaculture industry. Like any other species, brown algae are plagued by diseases, and their pathogens are increasingly recognised as pleiotropic environmental and evolutionary drivers [1]. The host laboratory has established the interaction between the genome model seaweed Ectocarpus siliculosus [2] and the oomycete pathogen Eurychasma dicksonii as a model to elucidate the defence reactions of brown algae. The overarching objective of this project is to understand how and why some brown algae are capable to resist pathogen infection, when others are not . This project encompasses the following research objectives: 1) comparative description of cellular events characteristic of disease susceptibility and resistance. The hypersensitive response (HR) has been the cornerstone of plant pathology for over a century. Significantly, we found that across Phaeophyta, disease resistance is also mediated by HR. This is accompanied by the specific deposition of fluorescent secondary metabolites, cell wall reinforcement and expression of specific cell death markers. The student will undertake further in-depth characterisation of these responses using real-time PCR, immunostaining biochemical assays, and highly innovative spatiallyresolved metabolite and protein imaging techniques. 2) detailed characterisation of recently identified Ectocarpus candidate pathogen receptors We recently discovered in the Ectocarpus genome two families of candidate pathogen receptors that display unusual, if not unique, structural and evolutionary features [3]. The project includes the bioinformatic and experimental characterisation of LRR-ROCO and NB-ARC-TPR genes in order to reconstruct the history of these two gene families at different time scales. SAMS is a vibrant multidisciplinary research organisation with world class facilities, and the student will work in close association with leading experts. He / she will acquire in-depth knowledge in the burgeoning field of algal host-parasite interactions, whilst developing transferrable skills in biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, science communication and project management. Programme ? ? ? ? Investigation of cellular processes of disease and resistance with established molecular and biochemical methods; Cellular localisation and identification of differentially accumulating proteins and/or specific metabolites in diseased and resistant algae using MALDI imaging; Correlation of proteomics and MALDI imaging with RNAseq transcriptomic dataset; Bioinformatic and experimental investigation of allelic polymorphism, alternative splicing and recombination in Ectocarpus candidate pathogen receptors

Methodology Unique biological material, substantial proteomics, transcriptomics and genomic data, and all necessary molecular techniques are available at SAMS. The PI recently secured NERC funding to generate a comparative RNAseq analysis of disease susceptible and disease resistant Ectocarpus. The project will involve a few short research stays in the Roscoff Marine Station, where the student will be able to access unsurpassed MALDI imaging facilities. The student will be encouraged to exploit these opportunities to develop his/her own original lines of research. Further reading 1. Gachon et al. (2010) Trends in Plant Science 15: 633-640. 2. Cock JM et al. (2010). Nature 465: 617621. 3. Zambounis A et al. (2012) Molecular Biology and Evolution doi: 10.1093/molbev/msr296. Further details on:

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/studentships/studentbook2011.pdf

Applicants should submit a CV, cover letter and completed application form by the application deadline to education@sams.ac.uk