Mitochondria are organelles originating from an endosymbiotic event playing a role in multiple fundamental processes such as energy production, metabolites synthesis and programmed cell death. Mitochondria are able to synthesize only a subset of the biomolecules required for their biogenesis and functions and have to import most of their constituents, including proteins and lipids, from extra-mitochondria compartments. Consequently, the biogenesis of mitochondria is a complex process involving an important communication with other organelles.

In the lab, we are interested in the understanding of the processes involved in the biogenesis of mitochondria lipids. Mitochondria are not connected to the vesicular trafficking pathway and lipid transfer occurs by non-vesicular trafficking pathways at contact sites that mitochondria established with other organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) or the plastids in plants. These contact sites are dynamic structures that are remodeled in response to stress. Our goal is to understand how lipids are transferred to mitochondria in normal and stressed condition, using yeast and the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana as models, by analyzing
1) how the mitochondria contact sites are formed and regulated in response to stress and
2) how the lipids are transferred from other organelles to mitochondria.

List of Publications.