Structural Biology and Biophysics (Engel)Head of Research Unit Prof. Dr.Benjamin EngelOverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & CollaborationsProjects & Collaborations OverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & Collaborations Projects & Collaborations 12 foundShow per page10 10 20 50 Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4701865 NSF-SNSF Revealing the mechanisms of thylakoid biogenesis at the base of the green lineage Research Project | 1 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4697962 The effects of proton motive force on thylakoid architecture and function Research Project | 1 Project MembersNo Description available Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4661372 Circadian-controlled structural transitions of the nucleus in green algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available Cryo-Electron Tomography for the Ocean (cryOcean): Molecular Architecture and Photosynthetic Adaptation of Marine Algae Research Project | 1 Project MembersChloroplasts in marine algae perform 25% of the Earth's photosynthesis, sustaining vast food webs and powering the global carbon cycle. However, the molecular organization of these vital photosynthetic organelles remains uncharted. Moreover, marine algae have diverse evolutionary lineages, so the mechanisms that regulate light harvesting and carbon fixation cannot be generalized from model land plants and freshwater algae. As climate change dramatically reshapes our world, it is of timely importance to understand how chloroplast architecture in marine algae responds to the ocean's rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions. To define conserved and divergent strategies of photosynthesis, we will chart the molecular architecture of chloroplasts in diverse and globally important marine algae by combining genetic manipulation and environmental conditioning with our pioneering cryo-electron tomography approach, which resolves the structures and organization of molecular complexes within the native chloroplast. We will reveal the light-harvesting thylakoid membranes and carbon-fixing pyrenoids with molecular detail, dissecting the events of organelle biogenesis, environmental remodeling, and repair from stress-induced damage. We will begin with mechanistic in vivo and in vitro studies of diatoms, the most globally productive marine algae. Then, we will make evolution-spanning comparisons to coccolithophores, which sequester gigatons of CO 2 each year, and Symbiodinium , which bring life to coral reefs. Finally, we will explore the ecological relevance of this chloroplast architecture by comparing to diverse algae sampled directly from the ocean. The cryOcean project will yield fundamental insights into how chloroplast architecture directs light harvesting and carbon fixation in marine algae, and will reveal how this architecture adapts to environmental stress. These discoveries will expand the molecular toolbox for engineering photosynthesis to resist climate change. Evolution of mitochondria molecular architecture across the photosynthetic tree of life Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available Molecular architecture of thylakoid biogenesis in cyanobacteria and algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available cryOcean Research Project | 1 Project MembersMarine Algae in a Changing World In addition to classical model organisms, we study photosynthesis in diverse marine algae, which perform a major portion of the Earth's carbon fixation and help sustain the Ocean's biodiversity. We seek to understand how photosynthetic organelles have evolved to the marine environment and how they are affected by environmental stresses caused by climate change. EMBO Young Investigator Program Award Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available 12 12 OverviewMembersPublicationsProjects & Collaborations
Projects & Collaborations 12 foundShow per page10 10 20 50 Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4701865 NSF-SNSF Revealing the mechanisms of thylakoid biogenesis at the base of the green lineage Research Project | 1 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4697962 The effects of proton motive force on thylakoid architecture and function Research Project | 1 Project MembersNo Description available Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4661372 Circadian-controlled structural transitions of the nucleus in green algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available Cryo-Electron Tomography for the Ocean (cryOcean): Molecular Architecture and Photosynthetic Adaptation of Marine Algae Research Project | 1 Project MembersChloroplasts in marine algae perform 25% of the Earth's photosynthesis, sustaining vast food webs and powering the global carbon cycle. However, the molecular organization of these vital photosynthetic organelles remains uncharted. Moreover, marine algae have diverse evolutionary lineages, so the mechanisms that regulate light harvesting and carbon fixation cannot be generalized from model land plants and freshwater algae. As climate change dramatically reshapes our world, it is of timely importance to understand how chloroplast architecture in marine algae responds to the ocean's rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions. To define conserved and divergent strategies of photosynthesis, we will chart the molecular architecture of chloroplasts in diverse and globally important marine algae by combining genetic manipulation and environmental conditioning with our pioneering cryo-electron tomography approach, which resolves the structures and organization of molecular complexes within the native chloroplast. We will reveal the light-harvesting thylakoid membranes and carbon-fixing pyrenoids with molecular detail, dissecting the events of organelle biogenesis, environmental remodeling, and repair from stress-induced damage. We will begin with mechanistic in vivo and in vitro studies of diatoms, the most globally productive marine algae. Then, we will make evolution-spanning comparisons to coccolithophores, which sequester gigatons of CO 2 each year, and Symbiodinium , which bring life to coral reefs. Finally, we will explore the ecological relevance of this chloroplast architecture by comparing to diverse algae sampled directly from the ocean. The cryOcean project will yield fundamental insights into how chloroplast architecture directs light harvesting and carbon fixation in marine algae, and will reveal how this architecture adapts to environmental stress. These discoveries will expand the molecular toolbox for engineering photosynthesis to resist climate change. Evolution of mitochondria molecular architecture across the photosynthetic tree of life Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available Molecular architecture of thylakoid biogenesis in cyanobacteria and algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available cryOcean Research Project | 1 Project MembersMarine Algae in a Changing World In addition to classical model organisms, we study photosynthesis in diverse marine algae, which perform a major portion of the Earth's carbon fixation and help sustain the Ocean's biodiversity. We seek to understand how photosynthetic organelles have evolved to the marine environment and how they are affected by environmental stresses caused by climate change. EMBO Young Investigator Program Award Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available 12 12
Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4701865
NSF-SNSF Revealing the mechanisms of thylakoid biogenesis at the base of the green lineage Research Project | 1 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4697962
The effects of proton motive force on thylakoid architecture and function Research Project | 1 Project MembersNo Description available
Revealing the molecular architecture of the ciliary transition zone across evolution through visual proteomics Research Project | 2 Project MembersImported from Grants Tool 4661372
Circadian-controlled structural transitions of the nucleus in green algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available
Cryo-Electron Tomography for the Ocean (cryOcean): Molecular Architecture and Photosynthetic Adaptation of Marine Algae Research Project | 1 Project MembersChloroplasts in marine algae perform 25% of the Earth's photosynthesis, sustaining vast food webs and powering the global carbon cycle. However, the molecular organization of these vital photosynthetic organelles remains uncharted. Moreover, marine algae have diverse evolutionary lineages, so the mechanisms that regulate light harvesting and carbon fixation cannot be generalized from model land plants and freshwater algae. As climate change dramatically reshapes our world, it is of timely importance to understand how chloroplast architecture in marine algae responds to the ocean's rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions. To define conserved and divergent strategies of photosynthesis, we will chart the molecular architecture of chloroplasts in diverse and globally important marine algae by combining genetic manipulation and environmental conditioning with our pioneering cryo-electron tomography approach, which resolves the structures and organization of molecular complexes within the native chloroplast. We will reveal the light-harvesting thylakoid membranes and carbon-fixing pyrenoids with molecular detail, dissecting the events of organelle biogenesis, environmental remodeling, and repair from stress-induced damage. We will begin with mechanistic in vivo and in vitro studies of diatoms, the most globally productive marine algae. Then, we will make evolution-spanning comparisons to coccolithophores, which sequester gigatons of CO 2 each year, and Symbiodinium , which bring life to coral reefs. Finally, we will explore the ecological relevance of this chloroplast architecture by comparing to diverse algae sampled directly from the ocean. The cryOcean project will yield fundamental insights into how chloroplast architecture directs light harvesting and carbon fixation in marine algae, and will reveal how this architecture adapts to environmental stress. These discoveries will expand the molecular toolbox for engineering photosynthesis to resist climate change.
Evolution of mitochondria molecular architecture across the photosynthetic tree of life Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available
Molecular architecture of thylakoid biogenesis in cyanobacteria and algae Research Project | 2 Project MembersNo Description available
cryOcean Research Project | 1 Project MembersMarine Algae in a Changing World In addition to classical model organisms, we study photosynthesis in diverse marine algae, which perform a major portion of the Earth's carbon fixation and help sustain the Ocean's biodiversity. We seek to understand how photosynthetic organelles have evolved to the marine environment and how they are affected by environmental stresses caused by climate change.
