Abstract

Host Prof. Uta Paszkowski

Abstract Inositol pyrophosphates (PP-InsPs) are eukaryotic nutrient messengers with a well-established role in phosphate and nitrate homeostasis in plants. Their cellular concentration must be tightly regulated in response to changing nutrient conditions. I will review our current understanding of PP-InsP synthesis and catabolism in Arabidopsis and Marchantia polymorpha. I will then discuss at a mechanistic level how nutrients and energy metabolites regulate PP-InsP biosynthesis and degradation. Using SPX receptor proteins as an example, I will describe a three-component signalling pathway that enables PP-InsPs to control plant phosphate homeostasis and starvation responses. Finally, I will outline our current genetic and biochemical approaches to define novel receptors and physiological functions for these signalling molecules in plants.

Biography Michael studied Biology (Biochemistry/Biophysics) at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and did his PhD in structural biology at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. After a postdoc with Joanne Chory at the Salk Institute, he set up his independent research group at the Friedrich Miescher Laboratory in Germany. In 2014 he became professor at the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Geneva.

Please note the seminars are for University Of Cambridge members ONLY .