Francesca Bottanelli
PhD student

Research

Rab GTPases are encoded by a very large gene family in A. thaliana and every step of vesicle fusion along the secretory pathway is facilitated/controlled by the action of a specific Rab member. It is thought that the unusual high number of rabs in plants, in particular for those members controlling late secretory pathway steps reflects plant-unique complexity with respect to cell wall biosynthesis and the unique features of cell plate formation during cell division. Although plants contain post-Golgi compartments that can receive endocytic tracer molecules, the organization of the late secretory pathway in plant cells appears to be slightly different from other eukaryotes. The rab5 group does not occupy early endosomes but appears to reside on late endosomes or prevacuolar compartments. In addition, the rab7 group does not reside on late endosomes in plants but on the membrane of the vacuole itself. Finally, the rab11 group highlights the trans Golgi network, rather than recycling endosome. The aim of my PhD project is to use rab GTPase as tools in conjunction with multiple cargo molecules to map specific transport routes within the secretory pathway of plant.

During my work I address the following questions:
1) Which compartment controls the segregation of secretory from vacuolar proteins.
2) Are there different routes leading to a single vacuole in plant cells?
3) How do cargo molecules arrive in the vacuole?
4) Which compartment receives endocytic cargo prior to the trans Golgi network.

Education

Contact

University of Leeds
Faculty of Biological Sciences
L C Miall Building
Room 9.13-9.14
Clarendon Way
Leeds - LS2 9JT
West Yorkshire
0113 3437031

bgy4fb@leeds.ac.uk