Tomas Laursen

This PhD fellowship at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences (PLEN), University of Copenhagen focuses on the molecular basis of flower colour and pattern formation in plants. The project is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network Stripes&Stars , an international training network centred on modern breeding of ornamental and fruit crops and the study of anthocyanins and other flavonoids in species such as petunia, calibrachoa, poinsettia and bilberry. The doctoral researcher will investigate how anthocyanin pigmentation is spatially organised to create distinct floral patterns. The work aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms behind these repetitive colour features by combining experimental plant biochemistry with modern proteomic approaches. Planned research includes building a protoplast pipeline to isolate cells from distinct petal patterns, mapping proteomes of different cell types, using biotin-dependent proximity labelling to identify protein networks around the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, and identifying regulatory proteins involved in pathway assembly and disassembly. The student will join Tomas Laursen and the Dynamic Metabolons Research Group , which studies the organisation of biosynthetic pathways for bioactive compounds. The group integrates microscopy, metabolomics, proteomics and fundamental biochemistry to understand plant specialised metabolism from single enzymes to the whole plant level. The research environment is described as creative, stimulating, dynamic and international, with modern laboratories, plant growth facilities and an in-house metabolomics platform. The project is embedded in a broad European doctoral network with beneficiaries and partner institutions across several countries. The fellowship includes planned secondments at Klemm + Sohn , TU Wien and Lantana Bio , allowing the student to sample plant material, optimise protoplast and proteomics workflows, and translate findings toward tailoring anthocyanin bioproduction in yeast. The doctoral researcher will also participate in network-wide schools, workshops and transferable-skills training. The position is framed as a three-year full-time PhD within the regular PhD programme at the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen.

The University of Copenhagen invites applications for a PhD fellowship investigating the molecular basis of flower colour and spatial pigmentation patterns. The project is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network Stripes&Stars, an international training network focused on modern breeding of ornamental and fruit crops using flower and fruit colour as a scientific showcase. The research focuses on anthocyanins and other flavonoids, the plant pigments responsible for many of the colours seen in flowers, fruits and vegetables. In particular, the project will address how distinct and repetitive anthocyanin patterns arise in flower petals and which molecular mechanisms regulate these patterns. The doctoral researcher will develop a protoplast pipeline to isolate cells from distinct petal-pattern regions, map the proteomes of different cell types, and use biotin-dependent proximity labelling to characterize protein networks associated with the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway. The work will seek to identify regulatory proteins that facilitate the assembly and disassembly of anthocyanin pathway components. The researcher will join Tomas Laursen and the Dynamic Metabolons Research Group in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. The group studies the organization of biosynthetic pathways for bioactive compounds by combining microscopy, metabolomics, proteomics and fundamental biochemistry, from the single-enzyme level to the whole plant. The department provides an international research environment with modern laboratories, plant-growth facilities and a metabolomics platform. The network includes research and industrial collaborations across Europe. Planned secondments include plant-material sampling with Klemm, protoplast optimization and fusion-construct expression at TU Wien with Professor Heidi Halbwirth, and translation of findings into tailored anthocyanin bioproduction in yeast with Lantana Bio. The researcher will also participate in network schools, workshops and transferable-skills training.