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Context

Pioneer Transcription Factors (PTFs) are important determinants of cell fate in many embryonic cell types in animal systems. In plants, PTFs are less well described. Leguminous plants such as the model legume Medicago truncatula are able to interact with nitrogen fixing bacteria named rhizobia. This symbiotic interaction leads to the formation on the roots of the host plant of a new organ called the nodule, inside which atmospheric nitrogen is fixed for the benefit of the plant. The TF NF-YA1, which belongs to the CCAAT-box binding factor family of TFs, specifically controls nodule development.

The objective of this project is to understand the mode of action of NF-YA1, and more specifically to assess whether NF-YA1 functions as a PTF regulating the root to nodule organogenesis transition. The project will be organized in three Work Packages (WP) aiming to demonstrate different aspects of PTF activity. In WP1, we will assess the ability of NF-YA1 to regulate chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation patterns and 3D chromatin looping organization, characteristics of PTFs. In WP2, we will identify and characterise potential chromatin modifiers that interact with NF-YA1. WP3 is devoted to the identification and characterization of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) potentially regulating NF-YA1. The successful candidate will be involved in the DNA methylation analyses of WP1, using bisulfite sequencing, and in the identification of protein interactors of NF-YA1, using a turbo ID-based proximity labelling approach.

Working environment

The successful candidate will join the Endosymbiotic infection and Nodule development  (Enod) team (https://www6.toulouse.inrae.fr/lipm_eng/Research/Endosymbiotic-infection-and-nodule-development, at the Laboratory of Plant-Microbe Interactions (LIPM) at the INRA Toulouse Occitanie Center in South-West France (https://www6.toulouse.inra.fr/lipm). The PIOSYM project is a collaborative project with researchers of the Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS2) at Orsay (http://ips2.u-psud.fr/en/index.html) and benefits from an international collaboration with two Argentinian laboratories in the frame-work of the International Associated Laboratory (LIA) NOCOSYM https://www.labex-tulip.fr/Actualites/Un-Laboratoire-International-Associe-au-LIPM.