荷兰宁根大学研究中心生物化学或结构生物学博士后职位

Postdoctoral researcher with demonstrated experience in biochemistry and/or structural biology.
Successful pathogens secrete effectors during colonization of their hosts in order to establish disease (de Jonge et al. Curr Opin Plant Biol 2011 14:400-406). We previously characterized the LysM effector Ecp6 that is secreted by the fungal tomato pathogen Cladosporium fulvum to mediate colonization of tomato plants by preventing the recognition of cell wall-derived chitin by host immune receptors (de Jonge et al., Science 2010 329:953-955). Subsequent structural analysis revealed that Ecp6 displays a novel mechanism for chitin binding, leading to a deeply buried chitin-binding groove that mediates chitin binding with ultra-high affinity (Sánchez-Vallet et al., eLife 2013 2:e00790.
Intriguingly, LysM effectors homologous to Ecp6 are ubiquitous in the fungal kingdom and occur in pathogenic as well as non-pathogenic species (Kombrink and Thomma, PLoS Pathogens 2013 9:e1003769. In this project you will investigate biochemical and structural characteristics of various LysM effector homologs in order to advance our understanding of the role of these effectors in fungal life.

Requirements

• PhD-degree in biochemistry or structural biology
• Experience in phytopathology is a significant advantage
• Fluent English communication skills
• Importantant competences: result orientation, creativity and independence

Terms of employment
A full-time position, temporary for a period of 2 years.
Maximum gross wages per month are € 3.831 (scale 10), for a fulltime appointment, dependent on training and experience.
The research will be carried out at the Laboratory of Phytopathology of the Wageningen University.