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bio3MET

The previously project Holz.aktiv was a joined research project between the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences and the PLUS. Our research focussed on the isolation of sporopollenin from pollen grains or microalgae cultured in custom-made photobioreactors (see also MakerLab).

Currently, we investigate the use of microalgae in green bioeconomy for production of non-fuel based chemicals and strategies to reduce atmospheric CO2 with the help of microalgae.

Membrane Biophysics

Our working hypothesis is that ion channels and pumps in the plasma membrane generate an electrical field around the pollen grain and the growing tube, which provides a 3-dimensional, polar electrical field for the tube’s growth direction. The various ion transporters build up the pollen permeome (Pertl-Obermeyer et al., 2018) and can be characterized by electrophysiological techniques using pollen protoplasts in patch-clamp experiments but also in organelle membrane-enriched vesicle preparations. In addition, synthetic biology methods are used for in-vitro production and reconstitution of ion transporters in liposomes, especially LUVs (Large Unilamellar Vesicles) and  GUVs (Giant Unilamellar Vesicles) for detailed investigations. We are currently characterizing K+ channels, H+ ATPases, and aquaporins of the pollen plasma membrane.

Pollen Systems Biology

Although a detailed characterization of single ion transporters helps to understand their specific role during pollen tube growth, a comprehensive view of the entire proteins during germination and tube growth can provide new insights into the polar growth process. Therefore, after studying membrane and membrane-associated proteins in pollen by a membrane proteome analysis (Pertl et al 2009), we identified the lily pollen transcriptome (Lang et al. 2015), which is now used as a customized database for further proteome studies. In addition, specific protein-protein interactions (PM H+ ATPase interactome: Pert-Obermeyer et al. 2014) are studied as well as metabolic pathways networks (Obermeyer et al. 2013) that dynamically change during germination and growth of pollen tubes. By using this systems biological (multi-omics) approach one may identify and map essential processes pathways and molecules that form the tip growth network = TIPOME.

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