Mitochondria are essential intracellular organelles responsible for respiration, ATP-generation, ionic homeostasis, regulation of reactive oxygen species or apoptosis. Exploiting this knowledge and understand biochemical mechanisms of mitochondrial dysfunctions will allow us to envision agronomic applications and innovative therapies.
Ivan Tarassov, coordinator of MitoCross
Headed by Alexandre Smirnov
& Ivan Tarassov
alexandresmirnov@unistra.fr
i.tarassov@unistra.fr
Mitochondrial-nucleus cross-talk in health and disease
Focus on RNA-protein interactions in mitochondria, mitochondrial translation and on targeting macromolecules into this organelle. Understand these mechanisms and to exploite them to develop new therapy approaches of human mitochondrial diseases. Human, murine, yeast and trypanosomatid cells are exploited as models and structural, imaging, genetic, biochemical and functionnal approachs are used.
Headed by Jose-Manuel Gualberto
jose.gualberto@ibmp-cnrs.unistra.fr
Maintenance and segregation of the mitochondrial genome
Study the recombination pathways and factors that modulate the structural plasticity and transmission of the plant mitochondrial genome, to better understand mitochondrial genome replication and segregation; to investigate the effects of genetic instability induced by recombination mutants on mitochondrial gene expression and plant development; to develop tools to promote mitochondrial genetic variability and segregation of valuable traits in crop plants.
Headed by Hubert Becker
h.becker@unistra.fr
Dynamics & Plasticty of Synthetases
Explore the nontranslational roles of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and other essential tRNA- binding proteins. In yeast, study organellar and membrane-bound pools of these proteins that participate in metabolic sensing and respiration. In pathogenic filamentous fungi, their cell-wall remodeling activity is studied to identify anti- microbialresistance strategies. In human,mutants responsible for severe diseases by loss- or gain- of-function are studied in yeast models and from patients’ samples.
Headed by Philippe Giege
philippe.giege@ibmp-cnrs.unistra.fr
tRNA biogenesis and translation
Study gene expression mechanisms in plant itochondria, more specifically on PPR proteins, a major class of RNA binding proteins. The team identified PPR proteinscarrying the 5 ‘rRNA RNase P activity as well as ribosome-associated PPR proteins for mitochondrial translation. The results obtained open up a wide range of applications from plant breeding to human health.
Headed by Benoît Castandet
castandet@unistra.fr
Organellar RNA quality control
Study RNA quality control mechanisms in plant organelles with a specific focus on how ribonucleases control the accumulation of double stranded RNAs. Use a combination of molecular biology and RNA-Seq based bioinformatics and statistical approaches.
Headed by Joseph Schacherer
schacherer@unistra.fr
Metabolism and Trafficking of RNA within the Plant Cell
Elucidate the genetic basis of the awesome phenotypic diversity observed in natural populations, a remaining major challenge in biology. In this context, we marry classical but high-throughput genetic methods with new approaches based on population genomics to connect the phenotypic and allelic landscape by taking advantage of the powerful budding yeast model system.
Headed by Laurence Drouard
& Anne-Marie Duchêne-Louarn
laurence.drouard@ibmp-cnrs.unistra.fr
anne-marie.duchene@ibmp-cnrs.unistra.fr
Metabolism and Trafficking of RNA within the Plant Cell
Defined as the powerhouse of the cell, mitochondria are also dynamic signaling hubs, playing a key role in cellular metabolism and adaptation. Proper mitochondrial function depends on the expression of the mitochondrial genome and the import of nuclear-encoded proteins. These processes are associated with localized translation and extensive movements of RNAs (mRNAs and tRNAs) within the cell. The team aims to understand these molecular mechanisms.
Headed by Ludovic Enkler
enkler@unistra.fr
Metabolic compartmentalization
& Membrane-less organelles
Understand the physical and functional interplays between peroxisomes and mitochondria, and what makes these organelles key elements in the regulation of fatty acid metabolism and energy synthesis. This encompasses the study of two emerging fields: Identity and functions of peroxisome-mitochondria contact sites, and their regulation by membrane-less organelles. This will help to better understand the molecular dysfunctions of peroxisomes and mitochondria in metabolic and neurological disorders.