Intrigued by the rapid technological advances is biotechnology, I started my PhD in 2003 mainly focusing on the development of methods to study molecular interactions in plants. My initial interest was to transfer and optimize tandem affinity purification coupled to mass spectrometry to study protein complexes in plants. During my PhD and post-doc, I continuously challenged myself to further improve and fine-tune these methods, enabling investigation of not only stable but also more transient and weak protein interactions from a diverse set of plant tissues/species. This finally led to the development of a streamlined technology platform, which formed the base of the current Plant Interactomics Facility at PSB, delivering internal and external AP-MS service for academia and industry.
In parallel I also invested quite some time in the development of methods to study interactions between proteins and DNA in situ, giving rise to the TChAP-seq technology in cell suspension cultures that provides deep coverage in the mapping of gene regulatory networks. As a complementary approach, I have been exploring methods to study protein-DNA interactions from a gene-centered view, identifying proteins bound to a genomic region of interest.
From a biological perspective, I initially applied these methods to obtain more insight into how plant cells proliferate, studying protein complexes that involve core cell cycle regulators. This allowed me to map a comprehensive cell cycle interactome in plants. In recent years, I switched my interest trying to understand how plants sense energy and nutrients and translate this information into adequate growth responses. Hereto, I am investigating the dynamic signaling networks around the TOR and SnRK1 kinases, integrating interactomics with phosphoproteomics.

Geert De Jaeger is full professor in Plant Biotechnology at Ghent University and Group leader at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology where he leads a research group on Functional Interactomics. De Jaeger's technology driven research team obtained high visibility in the plant research field with their state of the art AP-MS/PL-MS platform that maps protein interaction networks in plants. He recently started the exploration of nutrient (C/N) signaling around the central metabolic regulators TOR and SnRK1, with the aim to generate new approaches that contributes towards a more sustainable agriculture.

I did my Master thesis at the 'Functional Interactomics' group in 2019-2020. During this year, I explored the approach of mining the TOR-SnRK1 nutrient signalling network towards higher yielding and stress resilient plants via  combinatorial CRISPR screens. Intrigued by the research and encouraged by the warm atmosphere in the group, I decided to apply for an FWO-SB mandate in order to continue this quest and contribute to a more sustainable and climate robust agricultural system.
When I am not in the lab, I am always eager to jump on my bike for a trip, enjoying nature and being inspired and ready for new challenges!

Nathalie obtained her master’s degree in Geology at KU Leuven (Belgium). After 7 years as a Research Scientist at the diamond certification lab HRD Antwerp, she decided to pursue an additional academic career. In 2022, she received her PhD in Biochemistry and Biotechnology for her research on upstream regulation of the SnRK1 energy stress sensor in Arabidopsis thaliana in prof. dr. Filip Rolland’s lab at KU Leuven. In 2023, she joined the Mechanistic Molecular Biochemistry Group (KU Leuven), led by prof. dr. Shehab Ismail Mohamed, as a postdoctoral researcher where she worked on developing and characterizing a novel type of proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) that specifically targets RAS oncoproteins. Today she is a member of prof. dr. Geert De Jaeger's Functional Interactomics Group at VIB PSB (Ugent, Belgium), dedicating her postdoctoral research to unraveling the crosstalk between nitrogen starvation response and SnRK1 signaling in plants.