Biomedical subjects

Sabeeha S Merchant

Publications and source records attributed to Sabeeha S Merchant.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Investigating overflow metabolism in heterotrophic cultures of the green alga Chromochloris zofingiensis.

Chromochloris zofingiensis is of interest for its ability to perform a reversible trophic switch in the presence of glucose that is characterized by a shutdown of photosynthesis and an accumulation of energy storage metabolites. Previous work has shown that this trophic switch is accompanied by overflow metabolism and the production of lactate in aerobic conditions. This trophic switch is not observed in nutrient replete media. We utilized isotopically assisted metabolic flux analysis to characterize intracellular flux distributions that are associated with different metabolic phenotypes observed in this organism in different media formulations in light and dark conditions. The results of this analysis showed that low iron cultures have no flux through carbon fixation reactions, and that the carbon flux entering the TCA cycle in these cultures is approximately 40 % lower than that in iron replete cultures grown heterotrophically. This analysis was complemented with transcriptomics data collected for C. zofingiensis grown in iron limited conditions to provide further evidence towards the negative impact of iron limitation on both photosynthetic and respiratory activity. Overflow metabolism allows this alga to compensate for the lower energy production that results from iron limitation. This work highlights how nutrient availability can lead to changes in the metabolism of C. zofingiensis.

Iron↗

PubMed2026

Field strains of the unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii exhibit multicellular characteristics that shape their interactions.

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga long studied as a biological model system but rarely considered from the perspective of its own ecology, thus epitomizing the disconnection between reductionist biology in the laboratory and life in nature. Here, we present insights into its ecology, understood from field strains. We examined bacterial communities that coenriched with C. reinhardtii from the field, revealing specific associations. We then compared the biology of C. reinhardtii field strains to laboratory strains, illuminating strain-level heterogeneity and adaptations to life in the field vs. the laboratory. Field strains exhibited more robust photosynthesis, higher abundances of pherophorin proteins, a propensity for palmelloid formation, and high cell wall permeability. Finally, we phenotyped cocultures of C. reinhardtii with a coenriched bacterial partner, demonstrating how differences between field and laboratory strains manifest in biotic interactions. Although the organisms in question are classically understood as unicellular, our observations of field strains highlighted their participation in multicellular units, challenging the utility of unicellular frameworks in extending our knowledge of model organism biology in the laboratory towards understanding microbial ecology.

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii↗

PubMed2026

Estimation of chloroplast macromolecular complex copy numbers and subunit stoichiometries during the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cell cycle.

An unbiased, quantitative view of biomolecules in a living cell is a prerequisite for accurate modeling approaches and informs our understanding of cellular metabolism at scale. In this work, we used the total protein approach (TPA), in which the total protein mass of a given proteomics sample is used as a calibrator for absolute protein quantification, to determine protein abundances during the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii diurnal cycle. We use external, independently measured quantitative markers (metals, pigments) to assess the absolute protein abundances in unlabeled whole cell extracts. We calculate protein abundances in fg cell-1 of 7322 Chlamydomonas proteins, 2266 of which were captured in every time point, including the major proteins involved in the light reactions, photoprotection, proteostasis, and fatty acid metabolism during a cell cycle. As expected, Rubisco large and small subunits are present in a 1:1 stoichiometry, with the large subunit being the most abundant protein in our data set, averaging 5.05 × 106 molecules per cell, reflecting 2.7% of the total protein mass. We noticed that PSII is the most abundant complex involved in the light reactions with 2.08 × 106 complexes per cell. PSI averages 1.75 × 106 complexes per cell and cytochrome b6f averages 0.77 × 106 complexes per cell. The TPA is a robust tool to study proteome dynamics quantitatively, while avoiding artifacts due to biochemical fractionation. Our proteome data set with an unprecedented temporal resolution is a valuable resource to assess protein abundances during the cell cycle in the reference alga Chlamydomonas.

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii↗

PubMed2025

The Elements of Life, Photosynthesis and Genomics.

I am a Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Structural Biology and Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California in Berkeley. I was born and raised in India, emigrated to the United States to attend university, earning a B.S. in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Following post-doctoral studies with Lawrence Bogorad at Harvard University where I became interested in genetic control of trace element quotas, I joined the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. One of the first to appreciate essential trace metals as potential regulators of gene expression, I articulated the details of the nutritional Cu regulon in Chlamydomonas. In parallel, I used genetic approaches to discover the genes governing missing steps in tetrapyrrole metabolism, including the attachment of heme to apocytochromes in the thylakoid lumen and the factors catalyzing the formation of ring V in chlorophyll. After biochemistry and classical genetics, I embraced genomics, taking a leadership role on the Joint Genome Institute's efforts on the Chlamydomonas genome and more recently, contributing to high quality assemblies of several genomes in the green algal radiation, and large transcriptomic and proteomic datasets - focusing on the diel metabolic cycle in synchronized cultures and acclimation to key environmental and nutritional stressors - that are well-used and appreciated by the community. A new venture in Berkeley is the promotion of Auxenochlorella protothecoides as the true "green yeast" and as a platform for engineering algae to produce useful bioproducts.

Photosynthesis↗