TRR 1:  Endosymbiosis: From Prokaryotes to Eukaryotic Organelles

• Subject Area: Biology ; Medicine
• Term: from 2000 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5484340

The eukaryotic cell derived by the fusion of free and independent living organisms, through a process called endosymbiosis. The process of converting the endosymbionts into the cell organelles mitochondria and chloroplasts was accompanied by massiv adaptations on the genetic, biochemical and cellular level. A first decisive step was the transfer of genetic material from the symbiont to the host all, respectively the arising nucleus. In a next step a common control mechanism was established. Mitochondria and chloroplasts, which fulfil the classical biochemical function of NAD(P)H and ATP-synthesis via the citric-acid cycle, respiratory chain and photosynthesis, are further differentiated into specialized organelles, like hydrogenosomes, mitosomes, apikoplasts or non-photosynthetic plastids.
The aim of this project is to describe the developmental steps and requirements, which led to the mitochondria and chloroplasts from free living organisms. Furthermore we want to understand the integration of the endosymbiotic organelles into the cellular network. Finally we want to establish a functional molecular phylogeny for eukaryotes.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios

Completed projects

• A1 - Transportvorgänge in den komplexen Plastiden der Diatomeen (Project Head Kroth, Peter )
• A2 - Die Sonderstellung der Dinoflagellaten im Grundgerüst der Evolution plastidärer Genome nicht-grüner Algen (Project Head Kowallik, Klaus V. )
• A03 - Evolutionary genome analysis: The role of symbiosis in forging eukaryotic chromosomes (Project Heads Dagan, Tal ;  Martin, William )
• A4 - Die stammesgeschichtliche Entwicklung von Transportsystemen für plastidäre Strukturelemente (Project Head Soll, Jürgen )
• A05 - Dinoflagellaten (Project Head Maier, Uwe Gallus )
• A06 - Regulatory and functional components of thylakoid biogenesis (Project Head Vothknecht, Ute Carla )
• A07 - Analysis of nucleomorph-specific open reading frames (Project Head Maier, Uwe Gallus )
• A8 - Analyse des horizontalen Gentransfers zwischen Bakterien und von Bakterien auf Eukaryoten (Project Head von Haeseler, Arndt )
• A09 - Phylogeny and comparative genome analysis of Endomicrobia, bacterial endosymbionts of termite gut flagellates (Project Head Brune, Andreas )
• A10 - Eukaryotic genes of endosymbiotic origin: evolutionary dynamics and function (Project Heads Dagan, Tal ;  Kleine, Tatjana ;  Martin, William )
• A11 - Intracellular symbiosis in Rhopalodia gibba (Project Head Maier, Uwe Gallus )
• B1 - Molekulargenetik der Genom/Plastom-Interaktion (Project Head Herrmann, Reinhold G. )
• B02 - Phylogenetic and ontogenetic integration of the chloroplast into the compartmentalized genome of the eukaryotic cell (Project Head Meurer, Jörg )
• B3 - Komponenten der Membrandynamik (Thylakoidmembran) und deren Phylogenie (Project Head Sokolenko, Anna )
• B04 - Genetic control of the biogenesis and adaptive differentiation of the photosynthetic apparatus in Arabidopsis thaliana (Project Head Westhoff, Peter )
• B6 - Die Rolle plastidärer RNA-Edierung in der Evolution der Pflanzen: Ursprung - beteiligte Faktoren (Project Head Maier, Uwe Gallus )
• B07 - Function of cytochrom c6 in flowering plants (Project Head Leister, Dario )
• B08 - Regulation of photosynthesis (Project Head Leister, Dario )
• B09 - Functional and comparative analysis of the chloroplast proteomes of the red algae Galdieria sulphuraria and Cyanidioschyzon merolae (Project Head Weber, Andreas P.M. )
• B10 - Dissection of components, mechanisms and evolution of the PGRL1/PGR5-dependent cyclic electron transport in phototrophic eukaryotes (Project Head Leister, Dario )
• C01 - Regulation of photosystem II assembly (Project Heads Eichacker, Lutz ;  Soll, Jürgen )
• C03 - Hydrogen-producing mitochondria in a transformable system: Trichomonas hydrogeno-somes (Project Heads Henze, Katrin ;  Martin, William )
• C04 - The Alb/Oxa protein insertase in plastids (Project Head Soll, Jürgen )
• C06 - Biogenesis of iron-sulfur proteins in mitosomes and cytosol of Microsporidia and hydrogenosomes of Trichomonas (Project Head Lill, Roland )
• C07 - Comparison of functional properties of transmembrane ß-barrel polypeptide channels (Project Head Schleiff, Enrico )
• C08 - How do plastids control endosymbioses with bacteria and fungi? (Project Head Parniske, Martin )
• C10 - Biogenesis of thylakoid membranes in cyanobacteria (Project Heads Ankele, Elisabeth ;  Nickelsen, Ph.D., Jörg )
• C11 - Investigation of a translocon complex implicated in protein transport to the apicoplast of Plasmodium falciparum (Project Head Przyborski, Jude Marek )
• C12 - Annotation and functional characterization of novel components of the plastid permeome through comparative analysis of C3 and C4 plants (Project Head Weber, Andreas P.M. )
• Z01 - Central tasks of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre (Project Head Soll, Jürgen )

• Applicant Institution: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
• Co-Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf; Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Participating Institution: Max-Planck-Institut für terrestrische Mikrobiologie
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Jürgen Soll