Mutant screen in Chlamydomonas


Initial collaboration among the groups of Prof. Beck, Prof. Niyogi and our group led to results, which were recently published (Meinecke et al., 2010). After Prof. Beck s retirement we continue the collaboration with Prof. Niyogi s group. It is intended in 2010 that Dr. Alawady is visiting the lab of Prof. Kris Niyogi in Berkeley to intensify personally this collaboration on this project. It is aimed at to screen and analyze initially these groups of mutants on the level of their tetrapyrrole intermediates. It is expected that the analysis of chlorophyll and its precursors enables us to group those mutants according to the accumulation of identical tetrapyrrole metabolites and to provide first hints on new mutated enzymatic steps or unknown regulatory processes in chlorophyll biosynthesis. Subsequently, in comparison to wild type, contents of the mutant transcript and protein will be determined using Northern Blot analysis or semi-quantitative RT-PCR and available antibodies, respectively.

In the process of intensifying the collaboration we expect that Dr. Alawady can establish in the lab of Prof. Niyogi a screening strategy for the identification of tetrapyrrole synthesis-related mutants based on the HPLC analysis of tetrapyrrole intermediates. Taking the benefits of the established growth facilities for those mutants in the lab of Prof. Niyogi he can perform the initial biochemical screens, which we believe will lead to the identification of interesting genes involved in tetrapyrrole metabolism. After the initial classification and biochemical and molecular characterization, the genetical identification of the mutant loci in the genome of analyzed mutants will be done with the help of group members of the lab of Prof. Niyogi. With his visit in Berkeley, Dr. Alawady is planning also to be introduced to those different genetical techniques which are already established in Prof. Niyogi s lab and which are slightly different to the methods of his own lab with material from higher plants, such as tobacco and Arabidopsis.

Principal investigators
Grimm, Bernhard Prof. Dr. rer. nat. (Details) (Plant Physiology)

Financer
DFG: Sonstiges

Duration of project
Start date: 03/2010
End date: 02/2011

Last updated on 2022-08-09 at 05:08