Postdoctoral Research Associate

**About the role**



The arms race at the plant-pathogen interface is a fascinating field of
biology that can deliver important new, extracellular strategies for crop
protection. We used artificial intelligence to predict novel protein-protein
interactions at the plant-pathogen interface and discovered five unrelated
inhibitors produced by four different tomato pathogens that all target the
P69B immune protease of tomato (Homma et al., Nat. Comm. 2023). This project
aims to elucidate the arms-races between these inhibitors and P69B-like immune
proteases and use this knowledge to engineer extracellular immunity. You will
first resolve the inhibition mechanisms and determine the specificities of
interactions with P69B paralogs and homologs, also from non-host plants.
Second, you will determine the role of P69s in immunity and the role of
inhibitors in pathogen virulence using reverse genetics on tomato and the
pathogens. Third, you will elucidate the evolution of the P69 gene family in
solanaceous plants and engineer inhibitor insensitive P69s to build a strategy
for durable extracellular resistance to apoplastic pathogens.





**About you**



We seek an enthusiastic new colleague who has extensive experience in
molecular cloning, protein expression and purification, and protease assays
and who is keen to take advantage of new AI approaches and be part of an
interdisciplinary research team.





**How to apply**



Applications should include the application letter, a CV, a list addressing
the job criteria, and names of two academic references. Where Covid-19 has
resulted in substantial disruption to your work or research outputs, please
explain this by providing an additional paragraph in your supporting
statement.





The University of Oxford is committed to equality and valuing diversity. All
applicants will be judged on merit, according to the selection criteria.





This post is a fixed term, full time position and available from 01 June 2024.





The closing date for applications is 12.00 noon on 08 March 2024, interviews
are likely to be scheduled for 22nd March or W/C 25 March 2024.





For further inquiries, please contact renier.vanderhoorn@biology.ox.ac.uk