Lena is a PhD student at UiO. The overarching aim of her project is to test the hypothesis that spatiotemporal regulation of peptide production is a universal feature of the production of bioactive peptides in Eukaryota. She will (1) dissect how barrier formation in plants can regulate peptide processing and activity in A. thaliana and (2) compare this to the venom system of the insect order Neuroptera, including the agriculturally important green lacewing (Chrysoperla carnea), to decipher if spatial compartmentalization of target and processing enzymes are of functional importance for regulation of peptide toxin activity. She will examine this by performing single cell RNA sequencing across different tissues and developmental time points to acquire a temporal and spatial atlas of gene expression at various stages of (1) cell separation and (2) toxin production in the venom producing glands and surrounding tissue.
Lena Marie Bocian
