Eva-Mari Aro
Academician of Science
Molecular Plant Biology evaaro@utu.fi +358 29 450 4200 +358 50 430 4639 Tykistökatu 6 Turku Office: 6207 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2922-1435 |
Photosynthesis, regulation of photosynthetic light reactions, photoprotection, evolution of photoprotection mechanisms, chloroplast signaling, cyanobacterial cell factories.
Our basic research focuses on
regulation of photosynthesis, which is intimately linked with plant
stress responses and signalling cascades to regulate nuclear gene
expression. Particular emphasis is also put on evolutionary aspects of
regulation of thylakoid light harvesting and energy conversion systems. A
diverse set of photoautotrophic oxygen evolving organisms, from
cyanobacteria, green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and diatoms to a
moss Physcomitrella patens and ferns as well as to the model higher
plants Arabidopsis thaliana and spruce, are used in our research. We aim
at understanding (i) the mechanisms and dynamic regulation of the rapid
photophysical and photochemical processes of the light energy capture
and the photosynthetic electron transfer, (ii) how the structure and
organisation of the thylakoid protein complexes dynamically respond to
environmental changes, and (iii) how the signals originating from the
photosynthetic apparatus relay information to the nuclear genome for
regulation of gene expression and subsequent acclimation of the
photosynthetic organism to changing environmental conditions. Likewise
(iv) the evolution of thylakoid regulatory mechanisms, with special
emphasis on the replacement of the cyanobacterial flavodiiron proteins
with other regulatory mechanisms in higher plants, is investigated to
understand how it was possible for photosynthetic organisms to move from
oceans to the land.
Our applied research focuses on replacement
of fossil raw materials and aims at production of carbon-neutral
biosolarfuels and chemicals using cyanobacteria as a production chassis.
In the synthetic biology program, we aim at production of fuels and
chemicals with high photon conversion efficiency, significantly higher
compared to natural pathways. The main goal is economically viable
conversion of solar energy to a fuel using inexhaustible raw materials:
sunlight, water and CO2. Applied research is intimately integrated with
our basic research and comprises the designing, engineering and
optimisation of light harvesting, electron transfer and metabolic
pathways.
- Identification and characterization of a stable intermediate in photosystem I assembly in tobacco (2017)
- Plant Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Inactivation of iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis regulator SufR in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 induces unique iron-dependent protein-level responses (2017)
- BBA - General Subjects
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Interaction between photosynthetic electron transport and chloroplast sinks triggers protection and signalling important for plant productivity (2017)
- Philosophical Transactions B: Biological Sciences
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Koulu-uudistuksen käyntiinpanon unohdetut arkkitehdit (2017)
- Tieteessä tapahtuu
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Proteomic characterization of hierarchical megacomplex formation in Arabidopsis thylakoid membrane (2017)
- Plant Journal
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - PSB33 sustains photosystem II D1 protein under fluctuating light conditions (2017)
- Journal of Experimental Botany
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase PntAB is essential for optimal growth and photosynthetic integrity under low-light mixotrophic conditions in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (2017)
- New Phytologist
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Role of Type 2 NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase NdbC in Redox Regulation of Carbon Allocation in Synechocystis (2017)
- Plant Physiology
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Septal protein SepJ from the heterocyst-forming cyanobacterium Anabaena forms multimers and interacts with peptidoglycan (2017)
- FEBS Open Bio
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - SRM dataset of the proteome of inactivated iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis regulator SufR in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (2017)
- Data in Brief
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - The effect of enhanced acetate influx on Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 metabolism (2017)
- Microbial Cell Factories
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Calcium impacts carbon and nitrogen balance in the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp PCC 7120 (2016)
- Journal of Experimental Botany
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Changes in Relative Thylakoid Protein Abundance Induced by Fluctuating Light in the Diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana (2016)
- Journal of Proteome Research
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Development of a Quantitative SRM-Based Proteomics Method to Study Iron Metabolism of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (2016)
- Journal of Proteome Research
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Downregulation of TAP38/PPH1 enables LHCII hyperphosphorylation in Arabidopsis mutant lacking LHCII docking site in PSI (2016)
- FEBS Letters
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Evolution of Photosynthetic NDH-1: Structure and Physiological Function (2016) Cytochrome Complexes: Evolution, Structures, Energy Transduction, and Signaling Shikanai Toshiharu, Aro Eva-Mari
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Flavodiiron proteins act as safety valve for electrons in Physcomitrella patens (2016)
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - From first generation biofuels to advanced solar biofuels (2016)
- AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Light acclimation in the lycophyte Selaginella martensii depends on changes in the amount of photosystems and on the flexibility of the light-harvesting complex II antenna association with both photosystems (2016)
- New Phytologist
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Manganese Compounds as Water-Oxidizing Catalysts: From the Natural Water-Oxidizing Complex to Nanosized Manganese Oxide Structures (2016)
- Chemical Reviews
(A2 Refereed review article in a scientific journal )