Oxygenic photosynthetic machineries

Oxygenic photosynthesis produces most of the organic matter on Earth, as well as almost all of its oxygen. The primary steps of this process are carried out within intricate lamellar systems called thylakoid networks. These specialized membranes host the proteins and cofactors necessary for conducting the light-driven reactions of photosynthesis as well for the regulation and repair of the photosynthetic machinery. We are interested in how the photosynthetic and the auxiliary regulatory proteins are organized in the thylakoid membranes, how the membranes are organized within the cell (cyanobacteria) or the chloroplast (algae and plants), and how the organization of both is remodeled by light conditions and other environmental parameters. In addition, we are interested in the formation and differentiation of thylakoid membranes during plastid development in higher plants, as well as their disintegration and recycling during senescence. To study these, we combine various microscopy techniques, including electron tomography, freeze-fracture, ion-abrasion scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and optical microscopy, with spectroscopic, biochemical and transcriptomic analyses.

Current Projects:

• The 3D architecture of the higher-plant photosynthetic membrane network.

• Effect of environmental conditions on thylakoid membrane structure and organization.

• Structure, organization, and dynamics of peripheral light harvesting complexes (phycobilisomes) in cyanobacteria.

• The role of protein phosphorylation in determining thylakoid membrane structure and organization.

• Mechanisms of desiccation tolerance of resurrection plants.

• Photosynthetic differentiation during plastid development in dicots.