DynaMo Seminar: Ute Wittstock

DynaMo Center of Excellence is pleased to invite you to a DynaMo Seminar with Professor Dr. Ute Wittstock from Technische Universität Braunschweig.

Specifier proteins in plants - evolution and biochemistry

Specifier proteins are a family of kelch repeat proteins that amplify the chemical diversity of the glucosinolate-myrosinase defense system found in plants of the order Brassicales. They modulate glucosinolate breakdown to enable the formation of up to four different products with distinct physico-chemical and biological properties from a single glucosinolate. The biological function of specifier proteins is largely unknown, but experimental studies suggest a role in indirect defense responses. The talk will present new insights into specifier protein evolution as well as recent results on specifier protein structure and mechanisms.

Phylogenetic tree of jacalin-related lectin (JAL) domains of nitrile-specifier proteins from Brassicaceae as well as homologs composed of JAL domains identified in databases. See article for full caption

Ute Wittstock studied pharmacy at the University of Greifswald. She did her PhD at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology in Greifwald (Germany) investigating biological acitivities of polyacetylenes from water hemlock. In 1996, she joined the group of Barbara A. Halkier at the Plant Biochemistry Laboratory at the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen (Denmark) to study glucosinolate biosynthesis and transport. She continued her research on glucosinolates as a project group leader at the Department of Biochemistry at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena from 2000 to 2005, now focusing on glucosinolate hydrolysis and insect herbivore counteradaptations. In January 2006, Ute Wittstock was appointed as a Full Professor for Pharmaceutical Biology at Technische Universität Braunschweig.