Five Veni grants of 250,000 euros

Name

Faculty and research institute

Subject

Laura Govers

FSE - Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences

Global change and marine plant diseases
Higher marine plants form the foundation of many coastal ecosystems. These economic and ecological valuable habitats are globally declining, with a yet unclear role of plant diseases. The project will unravel the effect of global change on newly-found

Phytophthora infection of seagrasses and its consequences for coastal conservation and restoration.

Casper van der Kooi

FSE

How do flowers get their colours –and to what end?
This project will chart the optics of colourful flowers of plants with very diverse ecologies. The optical and evolutionary analyses will explain how pollinators and plant physiology drove flower colour evolution.

Clemens Mayer

FSE- Stratingh Institute for Chemistry

Making enzymes to order
Enzymes are the most sophisticated catalysts known to mankind. Harnessing their prowess for industrial applications is an enticing prospect, yet enzymes are seldom optimal for abiological tasks. Here, the researcher will explore new strategies to tailor enzymatic activities inside bacterial hosts and evaluate their potential for creating madeto-order biocatalysts.

Cristina Paulino

FSE- Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute

Redefining concepts of membrane transport mechanism
Transport across cell membranes is facilitated by proteins that are categorized into channels, primary- and secondary-active transporters, each thought to exert its own distinct mechanism. The KdpFABC complex, however, embodies features of all classes.

Investigation of its structure and function will undoubtedly blur the current conceptual boundaries of translocation mechanisms.

Carsten Wloka-Tjalsma

FSE - Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute

Small pores, big sensors
The molecular composition of any cell is rapidly changing and challenging to quantify. In this project, small pores equipped with sensor-proteins will be inserted into cellular membranes to quantify small molecules. The effect of chemotherapeutics on individual cancer cells under consideration of their molecular composition will be evaluated.