OscilloSensoR & OscilloPhenotypeR: Detecting and Phenotyping Oscillations across Multiple Cell Types, Intracellular Compartments and Imaging Techniques

• Grant number: 25/22641-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 29, 2025
• End date: April 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Teresa Portes
• Grantee: Arthur Fernandes Stradiotto Marcusse
• Supervisor: Alex Costa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
• Associated to the scholarship: 25/01581-4 - Data analysis of spatio-temporal behavior in single cells: methods for pollen tubes, BP.IC

Abstract

Oscillations in ion fluxes and intracellular concentrations are fundamental features of tip-growing cells such as pollen tubes and root hairs. Over the past decades, diverse fluorescent probes and advanced microscopy techniques have been developed to monitor different ionic species with increasing spatial and temporal resolution. In the case of Ca²¿, oscillatory dynamics have been observed not only in the cytoplasm but also in the nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria, and other subcellular compartments. Despite these advances, oscillation analysis remains poorly standardized in the field. This project proposes to extend the ongoing efforts to develop an interactive data analysis pipeline composed of two modules: OscilloSensoR, for robust detection and characterization of oscillations (period, amplitude, phase, synchronization); and OscilloPhenotypeR, for comparative analysis and phenotyping across genotypes, species, subcellular compartments, and experimental conditions. The student will acquire original data and receive training with fluorescence image analysis in a cutting edge international group (Prof. Alex Costa's lab at the University of Milan), besides the data analysis validation in another tip growing cell, root hairs. Costa's lab has rich datasets and ongoing pioneer experiments with subcellular localization of fluorescent reporters in mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and nucleus, in addition to cytosol in both pollen tubes and root hairs.¿Thus, the international experience will extend the ongoing project towards different imaging techniques, cell types, localization and types of fluorescent probes.