Understanding cellular organisation - from archaea to eukaryotes

Agency: Wellcome Trust
Type: Collaborative Award in Science
Principal Investigator: Buzz Baum
Investigators: Buzz Baum, Mohan Balasubramanian, Jan Löwe, Ricardo Henriques, Ann-Christin Lindas, Thijs Ettema, Ethan Garner
Start-date: December 2016
End-date: December 2021

Life is diverse, but similarities in sub-cellular organization exist across plants, animals, and fungi due to their common origin as eukaryotes. The mechanisms behind the establishment and maintenance of these membrane-bound compartments are not fully understood, partly due to a lack of experimental models that bridge eukaryotic and non-eukaryotic cells. However, relatives of molecular machines defining eukaryotic cell organization have been found in archaea, providing stripped-down systems to understand eukaryotic cell biology. Our research aims to better comprehend eukaryotic cell biology, including malaria, cancer, and stem cells, by studying the archaeal molecular machines that contributed to the transition from prokaryotic to eukaryotic cell organization.

Technology explored

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