Bridging the gap in the chloroplast envelope
Bridging the gap in the chloroplast envelope
Name of applicant
Ciara Frances Pugh
Title
Postdoctoral Fellow
Institution
University of Oxford
Amount
DKK 2,689,880
Year
2026
Type of grant
Internationalisation Fellowships
What?
Chloroplasts perform photosynthesis and also help plants sense their environment. Although they retain a small genome, most chloroplast proteins are encoded in the nucleus and must be delivered into the organelle after they are made. This import relies on special gateway systems (TOC and TIC) in the chloroplast envelope; however, how these gateways select and move proteins remains unclear.
Why?
Understanding this entry system and learning how to tune it could open practical opportunities: strengthening plant resilience to climate-related stresses and, in the longer term, supporting efforts to improve crop productivity.
How?
In this project, I plan to use advanced structural biology approaches to examine the molecular “bridge” that links the TOC and TIC complexes. By determining how this bridge is built, how it couples the two gateways, and how the local membrane environment shapes its behaviour, I aim to reveal the mechanism of chloroplast protein import at a level of detail that has not been possible before.