Mission of the project 

Photosynthetic eukaryotes are among the most ancient and diverse organisms on the planet. They result from rounds of endosymbiotic events. They have evolved to adapt to a wide range of environments. We focus on the detailed knowledge of the bionenergetic complexes structures from single components as well as their interaction into higher order associates, e.g. supercomplexes, to further understand the mechanisms behind the energetic metabolism interactions.

 Goal: The bioenergetics processes cannot be fully understood without a detailed knowledge of the structure of its single components as well as their interaction into higher order associates, like supercomplexes where proper supramolecular organization is crucial to maintain high efficiency of the transfer processes. To further understand the mechanisms behind the energetic metabolism interactions in photosynthetic eukaryotes, a close characterization of the bionenergetic complexes is necessary.  

Research Lines

Biochemical, functional and structural characterization of the respirasome and mitochondrial supercomplexes from several eukaryotic species

Biochemical and structural characterization of the respiratory complexes of Phaeodactylum tricornutum

Biochemical, functional and structural characterization of the photosyntethic machinery from Euglena gracilis

Production of biomolecules of biomedical interest in photosynthetic eukaryotic species

Antares I, modular photobioreactor suitable for bioenergetics research 

Public databases

Questions?

Contact Dr. Héctor Vicente Miranda Astudillo (hmiranda@iibiomedicas.unam.mx) to get more information about the project.