Academic interests
Postdoctoral project
Experimental biology with focus on the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana and Atlantic cod.
I am part of the REPEAT project doing experimental biology. We are an interdisciplinary group, where we use bioinformatics and experimental work to investigate the importance of short tandem repeats (STRs) in the genome of various organisms. In the REPEAT project, we ask: how does plants and animals adapt to changes in the environment, such as climate changes? How is the genomes of various organisms able to change and thereby adjust to stressful situations such as more extreme weather or warmer climate?
Even though the role of natural selection in evolution is widely accepted, we do not understand how changes in the phenotype relate to genetic change. With the advancement in whole genome sequencing projects in various organisms, such as the 1001 genome project in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), our understanding of the genome as a dynamic structure has changed. Differences in gene copy number, inversions, transposable element dynamics and variation in short tandem repeats (STRs) are all major parts of the different genomic architecture observed within a population. STRs consisting of repetitive DNA motifs have been shown to regulate gene expression and protein function consequently affecting the phenotype of an organism. The REPEAT project tries to understand how variation in STRs influences the organism. This project focuses on the functional modulation of regulatory mechanisms affecting the phenotype by variations in STRs residing inside (coding) and in the vicinity (or in introns) of genes.
PhD project
The main focus of my PhD was peptide ligand-receptor interaction in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Plants use small peptide ligands to control developmental processes as well as to respond to biotic and abiotic stimuli. The Arabidopsis genome encodes hundreds of receptor kinases (RKs) acting to perceive these ligands and transferring the information from the extracellular stimuli into an intracellular response. Receptors containing an extracellular domain of Leucine-Rich Repeats (LRR) is the largest family within the Arabidopsis RKs containing around 200 members. These RKs are involved in regulating numerous responses in planta. The different LRR-RKs are structurally similar and often utilize common signaling components. However, activation of the RKs lead to specific cellular responses. During my PhD, I aimed to understand how structurally similar RKs are involved in regulating specific cellular outcomes.
I used the INFLORESCENCE DEFICIENT IN ABSCISSION (IDA)-HAE/HSL2 peptide-receptor pair which regulates the process of floral organ abscission as a model for my studies.
I am interested in:
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Molecular work
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Generation of transgenic organisms to understand gene and/or protein function
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Imaging, including live cell imaging
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The connection between large scale bioinformatic analysis and the confirmation of observed results by experimental work.
Teaching in:
Background
2013: BSc Molecular Biology, UiO
2015: MSc Molecular Biology, Plant Genetics, UiO
2020: PhD in Genetics, IBV, UiO. Thesis name: "Molecular investigation of receptor kinase signaling specificity in Arabidopsis thaliana"