New Article in Nature Microbiology
An international research team, including scientists from the Algatech Centre of the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, has described a new type of light-harvesting apparatus in marine archaea. A study published in the prestigious journal Nature Microbiology shows that these microorganisms use rhodopsins with additional carotenoid antennas to more efficiently capture light energy.
A study published in Nature Microbiology describes a previously unknown mechanism of light energy capture in marine archaea of the Asgard group. These microorganisms have attracted growing attention in recent years as probable direct ancestors of more complex eukaryotic organisms. Because members of the Asgard group cannot yet be cultivated in laboratory conditions, their study relies on the analysis of environmental DNA collected from marine habitats.
In the computer-assembled genomes of these organisms, scientists discovered genes encoding a new group of microbial rhodopsins—light-activated proteins that, upon illumination, transport protons across biological membranes and help generate ATP. Unlike visual rhodopsins (e.g. those found in the eyes of animals), the newly described rhodopsins contain additional light-harvesting antennas composed of hydroxylated carotenoids, such as lutein, diatoxanthin and fucoxanthin, which allow them to absorb blue light—common in ocean waters—more effectively.
The international team encompassed researchers from Israel, Japan, Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic. Researchers from the Algatech Centre of the Institute of Microbiology CAS—Daniela Bárcenas-Pérez, José Cheel, and Michal Koblížek—prepared the purified carotenoids needed to reconstitute functional rhodopsins in the laboratory, enabling the team to clearly demonstrate their light-harvesting function. This discovery significantly broadens our understanding of the evolution of light-powered phototrophy in ocean-dwelling microorganisms.
Photo: Václav Bartuška
Visit of the Academy Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences at the ALGATECH Centre
On October 29, 2024, we had the honor of welcoming members of the Academy Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences to the ALGATECH Centre. Prof. Ing. Roman Sobotka, Ph.D., together with the heads of individual laboratories, presented the scientific focus of the centre, which covers phototrophic microorganisms, ranging from basic research on photosynthesis in bacteria to genome editing in cyanobacteria, and applied collaboration with companies in the development of downstream processes for valuable compounds from microalgae.
The new project "Photomachines" from the Jan Amos Komenský Operational Program, focused on synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, received significant attention. This research aims to contribute to the production of therapeutic peptides using microalgae.
Successfully completed
ALGATECH Centre - Inst. Microbiol. Czech Acad. Sci. (IMIC) has successfully completed the commercialization process of its unique microalgae strain Parachlorella. The bred strain is yellow, so it can only be grown heterotrophically. What is important, lutein is its only pigment and in quantities that make this alga competitive with plants from which lutein is now commercially extracted.The commercialisation partner is the Dutch company Phycom, which is one of the largest European producers of microalgae under strictly controlled heterotrophic cultivation conditions. The company grows 500 tonnes of microalgae per year, but Phycom plans to increase its production significantly. IMIC and Phycom are also partners in the European MULTI-STR3AM project. Thanks are also given to the Centrum transferu technologií AV ČR (Technology Transfer Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences) for their assistance in the technology transfer.
Sigma Project Award
We are delighted to announce that our successful PhD student and future new postdoc of the algal bio-refinery group, Miss Daniela Bárcenas Pérez, has been awarded a Sigma project by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The objective of the project "Advanced manufacturing based on countercurrent separation to refine microalgae biomass into marketable bioactive pigments" (PigmenTech) is to develop a new manufacturing process based on countercurrent separation (CCC) for the commercial production of lutein, cantaxanthin and astaxanthin diesters from microalgae. R&D activities start at laboratory scale (TRL3) and will be transferred to a real industrial environment, leading to an efficient commercial manufacturing process for the production of biopigments with direct commercial applications. Photo credit: Richard Lhotský, MBÚ AV ČR
New published paper
From Laboratory of Photosynthesis - Photosynthetic conversion of solar energy in cyanobacteria, algae and plants is carried out by two complexes of membrane proteins, chlorophyll and other cofactors. These complexes are referred to as photosystems I and II and their efficient assembly depends on the presence of a number of auxiliary protein factors. In the case of oxygen-evolving photosystem II (PSII), such a factor is a protein called Ycf48, which plays a key role in the initial phase of PSII formation, when the central proteins D1 and D2 together form the first intermediate of PSII. However, the exact mechanism of action of Ycf48 and its localization within the d1/D2 complex remained unknown. In this study, we were able to determine the detailed structure of the isolated complex of D1, D2 and Ycf48 proteins by cryoelectron microscopy. It was found that Ycf48 primarily interacts with the D1 protein at the sites where the cluster of calcium and manganese ions binds and performs the conversion of water to molecular oxygen in functional PSII. Thus, the complex prevents the premature binding of these ions, which could lead to oxidative damage to the D1 protein. Read more
Poster Session ´22
Algatech Centre Poster Session ´22 of algatech´s postdocs and students is running right now. 22 posters, all about microalgae research. It represents the best of the algologist community all over the world working in the Institute of Microbiology - Algatech Centre, CAS in Třeboň.
Laboratory of Applications
Our Laboratory of Algal Applications is listed in the official web of the Technology Trasfer of the Czech Academy of Sciences
https://techtransfer.cas.cz/database/products/174?lang=EN
Interreg AT-CZ ALGAE4FISH
Project video is on air on the youtube channel for watching! Specific microalgae are used in a food chain of pikeperch to improve brain development of fish larvae.
62nd Conference of Czech Phycological Society
It is our pleasure to invite you to the 62nd conference of Czech Phycological Society. It will be held on 13 – 15th of September, 2021 in Třeboň, Institute of Microbiology, CAS, - Algatech Centre. The conference will be composed of 4 panels: Taxonomy, Ecology and Physiology, Applied Phycology, and Bioactive compounds. However, we are interested also in topics that do not fit into these groups so don’t hesitate to apply! Please, look through the web pages of Conference for registration and detailed information, at address: www.algospol2021.weebly.com. Please, feel free to share this invitation with others colleagues and students which could be interested to attend it.
POUR FÉLICITER 2021
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2021!
Institute of Microbiology of the CAS - Centre ALGATECH Třeboň
(Original image: copyright-www.waldonell.com, 20121215-DSLR_IMG_2405-Edit-Collage-Green.jpg. Diatoms, Oamaru N.Z., 40x, BF, HF B, Colour Negative. The original foto used in the principle of "Fair use" for non-commercial purposes in science and research).
We invite you to a seminar
Kumar Saurav, Ph.D.: Role of cyanobacterial lipopeptides in the development of alveld disease-Algaveld
which will take place on Monday 24.8.2020 at 1:00 pm in the Institute of
Microbiology af the CAS – Centre ALGATECH – upper seminar room in Třeboň.
Everyone is welcome!
The seminar is part of the project: International mobility of researchers - MSCA-IF II (Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, v. v. i.) reg. nr. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_070/0010493 funded by Operational Programme Research, Development and Education.
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Symposium on Microalgae
On December 10, 2019, the "Microalgae as Future Production Systems" symposium focused on biotechnology microalgae will take place in Wels, Upper Austria.
The symposium is part of the Algenetics project of Interreg CZ-AT. More information here
We would like to invite you
to a lecture by Prof. Carl Johnson, Ph.D., Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_H._Johnson
entitled "As Time Glows By: Circadian Clocks and Biotech in Cyanobacteria". The lecture will take place on Friday 21.6. at 10am in the conference room of Centre Algatech, Novohradská 237 – Opatovický mlýn, second floor. The lecture is free, everyone is welcome. Invitation
We would like to invite you to a seminar by
Kumar Saurav, Ph.D.: Potential role of microbial metabolites towards the development of disease Alveld which will take place on Friday 15.2.2019 at 1:00 pm in the Institute of Microbiology af the CAS – Centre ALGATECH in Třeboň.
The seminar is part of the project: International mobility of researchers - MSCA-IF II (Institute of Microbiology of the CAS, v. v. i.) reg. nr. CZ.02.2.69/0.0/0.0/18_070/0010493 funded by Operational Programme Research, Development and Education. Invitation
Another piece of the "green puzzle" - the Třeboň scientists revealed an important step in the biosynthesis of the photosynthetic apparatus
The work, which was done in collaboration with scientists from Imperial College London, deals with the detailed structure and function of the Ycf48 protein factor, which is crucial for the biogenesis and function of photosynthetic protein complexes (photosystems) of cyanobacteria. The factor is also present in the other oxygen evolving photosynthetic organisms including plants, in which it is even indispensable for the functional photosynthesis. Ycf48 exhibits a doughnut-like shape and it is needed for an effective incorporation of chlorophyll into the membrane protein complexes responsible for photochemical conversion of light energy and oxygen evolution. Read more The Article