Relationship between organellar contact sites and autophagy in S. cerevisiae (P06)

• Subject Area: Biochemistry
• Term: from 2016 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 264061860

Organellar contacts mediate synthesis and transport of lipids and are important for cellular homeostasis. Autophagy exists in two modes: macroautophagy, where the cargo is engulfed in the cytosol by a double membraned isolation membrane (phagophore). The second is microautophagy, where the cargo is engulfed by vacuolar arms and after their closure taken up into the vacuole. Both modes use the same machinery. In S. cerevisiae Nvj1 within the nuclear ER forms a contact (nuclear vacuolar junction, NVJ) with vacuolar Vac8. Upon nitrogen limitation NVJs are removed by micronucleophagy (piecemeal microautophagy of the nucleus, PMN). In this project, we want to characterize the individual molecular events during micronucleophagy. We further want to identify and understand the molecular function of the required components.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1190: Compartmental Gates and Contact Sites in Cells
• Applicant Institution: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Michael Thumm