SUBSTRATE RECOGNITION AND TRANSPORT MECHANISM OF THE PIN-FORMED AUXIN EXPORTERS
On the 2nd of November, we will be delighted to welcome PD Dr. Ulrich Z. Hammes (Research interests PD Dr. Ulrich Hammes) to our BIC seminar series. The independent group of Ulrich is embedded at the Chair of Plant Systems Biology at the School of Life Sciences of the Technische Universität München. They use biophysical, biochemical and physiological approaches to examine amino acids and auxin transport in plants.
The seminar will take place on the 2nd of November at 15:40 in the Orion building in Wageningen, room C2030.
Abstract: PIN-FORMED transporters are key players in polar auxin transport. In Arabidopsis there are five canonical, plasma membrane-localized PINs, that possess a long disordered loop which is subject to regulation by kinases. Mutants in these genes display severe phenotypes. The two short PINs, PIN5 and PIN8, localize to the ER and their physiological role is less clear. PIN6 is intermediate and shares features of long as well as short PINs. Recently, a total of nine structures of three PINs were published and significantly advanced our understanding of this family of transporters. In this presentation I will compare the structures and explain the transport mechanism and discuss what these findings mean in the context of the biophysical environments at the different cellular membranes. I will also share recent, unpublished, data about the interplay of the loop domain and the transmembrane domains and what determines substrate specificity and binding of substrates in PINs
If you are interested in having a discussion with Ulrich (highly recommended!), please drop Elwira Smakowska-Luzan a line.
Also, we strongly encourage PhD students and postdocs to join Ulrich for lunch on the 2nd of November at 12:00 (Biochemistry (BIC) will cover the cost). If you are interested, please let Elwira Smakowska-Luzan know by the 31st of October.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
15:40 - 17:00
Orion building (room: C2030)
Bronland 1, Wageningen