Jonathan Przybyla-Toscano: Plant Physiology First Author

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Jonathan Przybyla-Toscano, first author of “Protein lipoylation in mitochondria requires Fe-S cluster assembly factors NFU4 and NFU5”

Current Position: Postdoctoral researcher at University of Liège, Belgium

Education:

  • PhD in Plant Biology, University of Lorraine, France
  • Postdoc in Plant Physiology, Umeå Plant Science Centre (UPSC), Sweden
  • Postdoc in Biochemistry, University of Lorraine, France

Non-scientific Interests: triathlon, trail, motorcycle, aquarium, gardening, traveling

Brief bio:

During my PhD in Prof. Nicolas Rouhier’s team at University of Lorraine (France), my research work focused on the maturation of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) proteins in plant mitochondria by the so-called iron-sulfur cluster (ISC) machinery. The work dealt primarily with the functional and molecular analysis of glutaredoxin (GRX), A-type carrier (ATC) and NFU Fe-S cluster transfer proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), three protein families involved in the late stages of Fe-S cluster maturation in this organelle.

Fascinated by the complexity of the metabolic pathways occuring in mitochondria, I then decided to study photorespiration, another crucial mitochondrial process. For that, I joined the lab of Dr Olivier Keech at the Umeå Plant Science Center (Sweden). During this postdoctoral position, I focused my attention on the glycine decarboxylase H-proteins in Arabidopsis, one of the four subunits of this complex responsible of the oxidation of glycine to produce serine and one-carbon units.

Back in Prof. Nicolas Rouhier’s team in 2020, I started a project on mitochondrial energy metabolism, being notably interested in the characterization of an atypical mitochondrial ferredoxin associated with the mitochondrial respiratory complex I.

Very recently, I got a FNRS postdoctoral researcher grant, and I wish to continue extending my knowledge by studying the maturation of Fe-S proteins in another subcellular compartment, the chloroplast, using another model photosynthetic organism, the green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Within the framework of this grant, I have chosen the team of Prof. Claire Remacle (University of Liège, Belgium) as the host laboratory.