Apr 2022
Theme: The many Facets of chloroplasts – hosted by Dr. Juan Camilo Moreno Beltran
Abstract:
Internal
membranes of plastids can adopt multiple structural configurations
depending on the plant ontogenesis stage and aberrations in
lipid-protein-pigment composition. I will present the
structure-composition interplay in the self-organization and maintenance
of cubic and lamellar arrangements. I will introduce the
ultrastructural basis of membrane interconversions – from cubic
prolamellar bodies of etioplasts to lamellar thylakoids of fully
developed chloroplasts and finally, their possible transformation to
large length-scale cubic assemblies. 2D and 3D ultrastructural analyses
performed using novel analytical methods (e.g., SPIRE software) will be
supplemented with biochemical and functional results.
Bio:
Dr.
Łucja Kowalewska received her Ph.D. degree in Biology from the
University of Warsaw in 2015 and is currently employed at the Faculty of
Biology (University of Warsaw) in the Department of Plant Anatomy and
Cytology as an Assistant Professor. In 2019 she was a visiting scientist
at Copenhagen University developing interdisciplinary collaboration to
study the basis of cubic membrane formation in plants.
She has combined expertise in 2D and 3D ultrastructural studies of plastids using TEM and electron tomography and in in vivo spatial studies of chloroplasts using confocal microscopy. She also supplements her structural studies with biochemical and biophysical analyses to reveal the connection between the structure and function of the internal plastid membrane network.
Visit the Spring Lecture Series webpage to view the full schedule and learn more about the upcoming lectures.