In vitro evolution of a synthetic organelle inside a picolitre habitat (A07)

• Subject Area: Evolution and Systematics of Plants and Fungi ; Plant Physiology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 458090666

The chloroplasts of plants and algae evolved through endosymbiotic incorporation of a cyanobacterium. Few of hypotheses as to the molecular mechanisms underpinning endosymbiosis have been subject to direct experimental testing. We propose here the experimental recapitulation of the origin of plastids through endosymbiosis. A central aim is testing the hypothesis that the objective of the endosymbiont is maximising metabolic cooperativity under spatial constraints. We will test this hypothesis by genetic engineering of cyanobacteria and establishment of a synthetic cytosol-like environment in microfluidics devices.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1535: Microbial networking – from organelles to cross-kingdom communities
• Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
• Project Heads: Privatdozentin Dr. Marion Eisenhut; Professor Dr. Dietrich Kohlheyer; Professor Dr. Andreas P.M. Weber