DynaMo Seminar: Karl Oparka

DynaMo Center of Excellence is happy to invite you to our next DynaMo Seminar.

Karl Oparka
Institute of Molecular Plant Science, University of Edinburgh

Imaging virus infection in plants

Virus infection in plants occurs in two distinct stages, a local phase in which the viral genome passes between cells and a systemic phase in which the virus moves over long distances. My group has been developing methods for imaging the viral infection process at super-resolution. Of specific interest is the role of  ‘movement proteins’, virally encoded proteins that bind to single-stranded RNA and modify the size exclusion properties of plasmodesmata, the small pores that interconnect plant cells. Using a combination of fluorescent protein tagging and mutational analysis, we have been dissecting the subcellular events that lead to successful virus replication and spread. I will present a model that links virus replication and movement to unique structural complexes that are located atthe entrances of plasmodesmata. 

Karl Oparka is Regius Professor  at Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on plasmodesmata, the small pores that interconnect plant cells, as well as on the nature of macromolecules that pass between cells via plasmodesmata. He is a leading expertise within live imaging. Karl Oparka serves as member of DynaMo's Scientific Advisory Board.