Pamela Vetrano, a doctoral student in Silvia Ramundo’s group, has been awarded an EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant to support a one-month research visit to the Photobiology and Physiology of Plastids and Microalgae Research Unit at IBPC in Paris.
Photosynthesis is a fundamental biological process that allows plants and algae to convert light energy into chemical energy for growth. This process relies on chloroplasts and their highly organized internal membrane network, known as the thylakoids. Changes in temperature, light intensity, and nutrient availability can easily disrupt thylakoid membrane architecture and impair photosynthetic performance. To cope with these fluctuations, chloroplasts must continuously assemble, repair, and reorganize their membranes.
Pamela’s research project, “Dissecting Photosynthetic Defects in Chlamydomonas Mutants Lacking a Conserved Chloroplast Protein”, explores how a newly identified and highly conserved protein helps chloroplasts sustain efficient photosynthesis during environmental stress, particularly under excess light. She is studying this protein in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, an established model organism whose fast growth and genetic tractability make it ideal for dissecting photosynthetic mechanisms.
During her exchange at IBPC, Pamela will work alongside biophysicist Wojciech Nawrocki to conduct specialized biophysical measurements. These experiments will examine how the absence of this conserved chloroplast protein affects photosynthesis in Chlamydomonas. In particular, she will investigate how efficiently the cells lacking this protein capture and use light relative to wild-type cells. The EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant will enable Pamela to gain hands-on training in complementary biophysical methods that she will bring back to the Ramundo group, strengthening an emerging international collaboration between the GMI and IBPC.
About Pamela Vetrano
Pamela Vetrano studied Biotechnology and Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Pisa, followed by a second Master’s degree in Agricultural Sciences and Plant Biotechnology at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. Through internships at the John Innes Centre and the PlantLab, she gained experience in plant genotyping, CRISPR, and fluorescence microscopy. In fall 2022, she joined the Ramundo lab as a PhD student through the Vienna BioCenter PhD Program. Her doctoral work focuses on using the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to investigate fundamental questions about how chloroplasts are built and how they remain functional under environmental stress.
About EMBO Scientific Exchange Grant
TheEMBO Scientific Exchange Grant provides the opportunity for PhD students and early-career researchers to gain international experience by supporting research visits of one week for up to three months. The fellowship aims to strengthen collaborations between laboratories in different countries and provides access to specialized techniques.