Summary
Our group has been pioneer in the study of the TOR signaling pathway, a cell growth master regulator, and autophagy, a TOR-controlled degradative process required for the cellular adaptation to stress, in microalgae using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as model system.
The main goal of our research is to understand how nutrient availability and stress regulate TOR signaling and autophagy in microalgae.
Specific research lines include:
·Components and regulation of the TOR pathway in Chlamydomonas.
·Functional analysis of autophagy in Chlamydomonas cells subjected to stress conditions including chloroplast damage and oxidative stress.
·Molecular mechanisms involved in the redox regulation of ATG proteins.
·Characterization of TOR and autophagy in extremophilic microalgae.
·Crosstalk between inositol polyphosphates and TOR signaling.
·Crosstalk between stress granules, TOR and autophagy.
Collaborators
Stéphane Lemaire (CNRS, Paris, France)
Enrique Martínez-Force (Instituto de la Grasa, Sevilla)
James Umen (Danforth Plant Science Center, Sant Louis, USA)
Leslie Hicks (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA)
Cecilia Gotor/Luis Carlos Romero (IBVF, Sevilla)
Michael Schroda (TU Kaiserslautern, Germany)
Peter Bozhkov (SLU Uppsala)
Sabeeha Merchant (University of California, USA)
Jean-David Rochaix (University of Geneva)
