Membrane dynamics and signalling in plant-microbe interactions (Ott)

Plasma membranes require high levels of plasticity to modulate perception and transduction of extra- and intracellular signals. Lateral assembly of protein complexes combined with an independent compositional lipid patterning of the bilayer in both membrane leaflets, provide the opportunity to decorate this interface with specific proteins in an organized and dynamic manner. This ability to reorganize the protein composition of the plasma membrane is essential for the regulation of processes such as polarity of transport, development and microbial infection. more

Remorins are plant-specific proteins that comprise a multi-gene family in all land plants and serve as marker proteins for membrane domains. They are characterized by a conserved and canonical C-terminal and a highly divergent N-terminal region. Despite being first described almost 25 years ago, their cellular function still remains a mystery. We set off to unravel their molecular function. more

The discovery of intrinsic disorder (ID) in proteins about 10 years ago led to a paradigm shift in protein science as these regions in proteins have no ordered secondary structure under physiological conditions. However, upon interaction with other proteins, post-translational modifications and/or protein-ligand interactions, ID regions can undergo conformational changes to bind the targets with high specificity but low affinity. We investigate these structural dynamics and the functional relevance of ID segments in remorin proteins. more