This is a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Plant Biology to support Dr. Conrad's research and training under the mentorship of Dr. D. Lansing Taylor. Dr. Conrad will receive training at the cutting edge of modern cell biology (including antibody technology, protein and fluorescent-probe chemistry, microinjection, and state-of-the-art light microscopy). During this training period, Dr. Conrad will study the dynamics of cytoskeletal elements during fibroblast locomotion. The long-term goal is to apply these critical modern techniques and experimental approaches to study the dynamics of cytoskeletal elements during bud formation in the moss, Funaria. The training which Dr. Conrad will acquire during this fellowship will allow her to localize and image up to five different cytoskeletal protein types simultaneously, and map multiple physiological parameters (such as proteins, pH, calcium concentration, membrane concentration, and subcellular organelles) in the same living cell during bud development. Although the work to be performed under Dr. Taylor's mentorship on fibrast locomotion is, in itself, very important, the major significance of this project lies in the long-term goals of Dr. Conrad. The transfer of these cutting-edge technologies in cell biology to the study of plant cells is long overdue.
