Descrizione del progetto
Sviluppare l’uso delle microalghe per l’energia pulita grazie a nuovi attori molecolari
Le microalghe sono organismi unicellulari in grado di effettuare la fotosintesi mediante la conversione della luce solare e dell’anidride carbonica in biomassa. Negli ultimi anni hanno attirato una notevole attenzione per il loro potenziale in qualità di fonte sostenibile di biocarburanti. Per ottimizzare le loro condizioni di coltura, è necessario comprendere la regolazione intracellulare alla base della cattura e dello stoccaggio di CO2. Finanziato dal programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto INSPirAUTOR si concentrerà su specifiche vie di segnalazione che regolano il metabolismo dei lipidi, una fonte fondamentale di biocarburanti. Le intuizioni del progetto dispongono delle potenzialità di migliorare l’ingegneria metabolica delle alghe, promuovendo il loro ruolo nella mitigazione della CO2 e contribuendo al raggiungimento degli obiettivi fissati dalla strategia dell’UE in materia di neutralità climatica.
Obiettivo
The elucidation of regulatory networks that govern cell growth and carbon storage in photosynthetic cells may potentially benefit the world's dependence on the declining reserves of fossil fuels. The growth/carbon sink relationship impacts metabolism, carbon partitioning and productivity but its regulation is poorly understood. Recently, we found a connection between two major cell growth regulators in the model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Our findings revealed a synergistic effect between TOR kinase and Inositol polyphosphate (InsP) regulating lipid metabolism and the recycling process of autophagy. Based on the relevance of these results, we aim to find the mechanisms and the conditions in which this intersection takes place within the green lineage. In this sense, we have designed a straight-forward project including different goals. First, we will set novel analytical tools to evaluate the InsP level fluctuations in the presence of new TOR inhibitors and monitor the impact on autophagy flux and lipid metabolism in the model photosynthetic organisms Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Arabidopsis thaliana. Second, we want to identify the phosphorylation targets of InsPs using Kinome/P-phosphoproteome in a Chlamydomonas InsP-deficient mutant. This analysis will unravel the phosphorylation network of InsP signaling and will provide new insights about the role of InsP in the control of cell growth. Third, we will evaluate InsP levels, autophagy flux and lipid storage under nutritional stress to determine the InsP modulation response in plants and algae. Understanding this signaling pathway will impact metabolic engineering of food and biofuel crops to improve yields of high-value products including oils and lipids. We believe this project will impact a general audience and will help to teach people how basic research can turn into a greater understanding of a process that is conserved in humans and has a direct economic impact.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologymetabolic engineering
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyphycology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF-EF-RI - RI – Reintegration panelCoordinatore
28006 Madrid
Spagna