Imaging hell: studying the cell biology of micron-sized archaea that grow at 75°C to shed light on the evolution of cell division.
- Abstract number
- 256
- Corresponding Email
- [email protected]
- Session
- Plenary Talk: Professor Buzz Baum - Imaging hell: studying the cell biology of micron-sized archaea that grow at 75°C to shed light on the evolution of cell division.
- Authors
- Buzz Baum (1)
- Affiliations
-
1. MRC-LMB
- Keywords
Evolution, cell division, morphogenesis, cell cycle, archaea, mechanics
- Abstract text
Living systems propagate by undergoing rounds of cell growth and division. In fact, all modern day organisms are the progeny of a single cell that divided over 3.5 billion years ago. In this talk, by looking at features of the cell division cycle machinery that we (eukaryotes) share with our archaeal relatives, we will attempt to shed light on the origins of our cell division machinery. Since Sulfolobus acidocalrarius (isolated from a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park) is currently the most experimentally tractable archaeal relative of eukaryotes, a cell biological analysis requires super-resolution imaging at 75°C at pH3. By overcoming some of these technical challenges we have been able to shed light on the mechanisms of division in Sulfolobus. Through this research, we also hope to reveal fundamental features of the division process that have been obscured by the relative complexity of eukaryotic cells.
- References