Research Interests My research centres on the molecular cell biology of mitochondrial and chloroplast division. Though we know that these two organelles arose from bacteria, we know little about how they are replicated and distributed at cell division. These are basic questions of biology, and answers to them will help us understand how these respiratory and photosynthetic machines have been retained by cells for millions of years. Under the electron microscope, there is a distinctive belt around dividing chloroplasts (also visible in some mitochondria) that contains fibres of unknown composition. To identify these fibres, and any other proteins that are involved in organelle division, we are exploiting recent advances in the identification of genes active in bacterial cell division. An essential bacterial division gene, FtsZ, makes a protein that forms fibres in vitro, and it has recently been shown that FtsZ homologs are present in chloroplasts. We have cloned two FtsZs from the algal cell, Mallomonas, and are currently working on the characterisation of these genes and their proteins, as well as searching for FtsZs in a variety of other organisms. Publications and Research
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