France: PhD Position in France in Physical-Chemistry of Biopolymers/Colloids-Soft Matter

PhD Position in France in Physical-Chemistry of Biopolymers/Colloids-Soft Matter, France
Ph.D position for three years in France in Physical-Chemistry of Biopolymers/Colloids - Soft Matter.

Protein-polysaccharide assembly : Formation, Structure and functionality

Acacia gum is a natural exudate obtained from Acacia Senegal and Acacia Seyal trees. It is a highly branched polysaccharide composed by mainly three macromolecular fractions: an arabinogalactan-peptide fraction (AG), an arabinogalactan-protein fraction (AGP) and glycoproteins (GP). It displays remarkable functional properties (emulsifying properties, associative and binding properties, flavour carrier, etc?), widely used by food and non-food industries.

The main objective of the Ph.D is to design functional supramolecular assemblies based on Acacia gum and wheat gliadins through thermodynamic control of the interaction mechanism. The first stage of the project will be devoted to the formation of Acacia gum-gliadins assemblies, either by modification of biopolymer affinities for solvents or by complex coacervation. Thermodynamic interaction parameters will be determined by Isothermal Titration microcalorimetry. The structure of Acacia gum-gliadins complexes will be studied using spectroscopic (FTIR), microscopic (e.g. CSLM, MET) and scattering techniques (SLS, DLS, SAXS, SANS).

In a second time, the stability and functional properties of protein-polysaccharide assemblies will be studied as a function of solvent physico-chemical conditions. The impact of these modifications on the structure and composition of supramolecular assemblies will be studied by a combination of chromatographic, microscopic and scattering methods. Functional properties of stable proteins-polysaccharides assemblies will then be checked, mainly hydration, textural and surface properties.

Requirements:
Good knowledge in soft matter, physical-chemistry of biopolymers, good skills in physical characterization of biopolymers structure

Host Institution:
UMR Agro-Polymers Engineering and Emerging Technologies (IATE, Montpellier, France)
Ph.D supervision: C. Sanchez and M. Nigen
Ph.D salary : ~ 3000 US $

Application ?
Send a detailed CV and a letter of motivation, exclusively by e-mail at Christian SANCHEZ (Christian.Sanchez[ at ]supagro.inra.fr)