Institute of Biological Sciences

Head: prof. dr hab. Marek Tchórzewski Akademicka 19, 20-04 Lublin tel.: +48 81 537 59 56

Staff members:

prof. dr hab. Marek Tchórzewski
dr Aleksandra Boguszewska
dr Przemysław Grela
dr Dawid Krokowski
dr Barbara Michalec-Wawiórka
dr Monika Zaciura
dr Leszek Wawiórka
dr Alan González Ibarra
dr Kamil Filipek

Doctoral students:

mgr Wioleta Banaszuk
mgr Natalia Kopik
mgr Krystian Łopucki

Visitors:

B.Sc. Yutian Shao
B. Sc. Zhenyu Zhang

History

In 1967, the Laboratory of Bacterial Chemistry was established together with the Isotope Laboratory as part of the Department of Microbiology at the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences. In 1970, the Laboratory was transformed into an independent scientific unit: the Department of Molecular Biology at the Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences. In subsequent years, the Department was part of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology. In the 1970-1993, the Department was headed by prof. dr hab. Eugeniusz Gąsior. In 1993, he was succeeded by prof. dr hab. Nikodem Grankowski, who held the function until 2012, when prof. dr hab. Marek Tchórzewski was appointed the Head of the Department. In 2019, the Department of Molecular Biology became part of the Institute of Biological Sciences.

Current research topics

Three research issues are addressed in the Department by three research teams:

• regulation of the expression of genetic information at the translational level; the role of ribosomal proteins, elucidation of their structure and function in terms of the functions of the ribosome as a key element in the control of genetic information at the translatome level; elucidation of mechanisms governing the interactions between the ribosome and protein factors exerting positive and negative modifying effects on its activity;
• role of the so-called specialised ribosomes in the regulation of the expression of genetic information at the translational level, also at the stage of formation of spores in a Bacillus subtilis model; the aim of the research is to identify determinants of ribosomal heterogeneity and to identify modifications of the genetic information flow induced by the ribosome diversity at an important bacterial life stage, i.e. spore formation;
• regulation of amino acid transport via membrane amino acid transporters with particular emphasis on the endoplasmic reticulum; mechanisms regulating their post-translational modification, i.e. glycosylation; identification of enzymes and other proteins regulating the post-translational modification of transporters in the trans-Golgi compartment and determining their delivery onto the cell membrane in changing environmental conditions

Laboratories

• “Environmental Laboratory for Intravital Cell Imaging” - an element of the nationwide equipment base called the Multidisciplinary Laboratory of Functional Nanomaterials NanoFun. The core of the system is the image acquisition system based on a uniquely equipped confocal microscope. The system facilitates investigations of a variety of cellular processes at the molecular level in a single living cell and in a large group of cells on a scale of picoseconds, minutes, hours, or days;
• Laboratory of Translational Control (laboratory of regulation of genetic information expression at the translational level);
• Laboratory of Gene Expression
• Laboratory of Amino Acid Metabolism

Major publications

• Szajwaj M., Wawiórka L., Molestak E., Michalec-Wawiórka B., Mołoń M., Wojda I., Tchórzewski M. (2019) The influence of ricin-mediated rRNA depurination on the translational machinery in vivo - New insight into ricin toxicity. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 1866(12):118554.
• Kargas V., Castro-Hartmann P., Escudero-Urquijo N., Dent K, Hilcenko C., Sailer C., Zisser G., Marques-Carvalho M.J., Pellegrino S., Wawiórka L., Freund S.M., Wagstaff J.L., Andreeva A., Faille A., Chen E., Stengel F., Bergler H., Warren A.J. (2019) Mechanism of completion of peptidyltransferase centre assembly in eukaryotes. Elife, 8. pii: e44904.
• Szuster-Ciesielska A., Wawiórka L., Krokowski D., Grankowski N., Jarosz Ł., Lisiecka U., Tchórzewski M. (2019) Immunogenic Evaluation of Ribosomal P-Protein Antigen P0, P1, and P2 and Pentameric Protein Complex P0-(P1-P2)2 of Plasmodium falciparum in a Mouse Model. Journal of Immunology Research, ID9264217.
• Borkiewicz L., Mołoń M., Molestak E., Grela P., Horbowicz-Drożdżal P., Wawiórka L., Tchórzewski M. (2019) Functional Analysis of the Ribosomal uL6 Protein of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cells, 8(7), pii: E718.
• Grela P., Szajwaj M., Horbowicz-Drożdżal P., Tchórzewski M. (2019) How Ricin Damages the Ribosome. Toxins (Basel). 11(5). pii: E241.
• Borkiewicz L., Polkowska-Kowalczyk L., Cieśla J., Sowiński P., Jończyk M., Rymaszewski W., Szymańska K.P., Jaźwiec R., Muszyńska G., Szczegielniak J. (2019) Expression of maize calcium-dependent protein kinase (ZmCPK11) improves salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis plants by regulating sodium and potassium homeostasis and stabilizing photosystem II. Physiologia Plantarum, 2019 Feb 4. doi: 10.1111/ppl.12938.
• Magryś A., Deryło K., Bogut A., Olender A., Tchórzewski M. (2018) Intraphagolysosomal conditions predispose to Staphylococcus epidermidis small colony variants persistence in macrophages. PLoS One 13(11):e0207312.
• Mołoń M., Panek A., Molestak E., Skoneczny M., Tchórzewski M., Wnuk M. (2018) Daughters of the budding yeast from old mothers have shorter replicative lifespans but not total lifespans. Are DNA damage and rDNA instability the factors that determine longevity? Cell Cycle, 17(10),1173-1187.
• Deryło K., Michalec-Wawiórka B., Krokowski D., Wawiórka L., Hatzoglou M., Tchórzewski M. (2018) The uL10 protein, a component of the ribosomal P-stalk, is released from the ribosome in nucleolar stress. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 1865(1):34-47.
• Fekry M., Alshokry W., Grela P., Tchórzewski M., Ahlgren E.C., Söderberg C.A., Gakh O., Isaya G., Al-Karadaghi S. (2017) SAXS and stability studies of iron-induced oligomers of bacterial frataxin CyaY. PLoS One 12(9):e0184961.
• Kloskowski J., Kaczanowska E., Krogulec J., and Grela P. (2017) Hematological indicators of habitat quality: Erythrocyte parameters reflect greater parental effort of Red-necked Grebes under ecological trap conditions. The Condor, 119, 2017, pp. 239–250
• Wawiórka L., Molestak E., Szajwaj M., Michalec-Wawiórka B., Mołoń M., Borkiewicz L., Grela P., Boguszewska A., Tchórzewski M. (2017) Multiplication of Ribosomal P-Stalk Proteins Contributes to the Fidelity of Translation. Molecular and Cellular Biology 37(17):e00060-17.
• Grela P., Li X.P., Horbowicz P., Dźwierzyńska M., Tchórzewski M., Tumer N.E. (2017) Human ribosomal P1-P2 heterodimer represents an optimal docking site for ricin A chain with a prominent role for P1 C-terminus. Scientific Reports 7(1):5608.
• Chylińska M., Szymańska-Chargot M., Deryło K., Tchórzewska D., Zdunek A. (2017) Changing of biochemical parameters and cell wall polysaccharides distribution during physiological development of tomato fruit. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 2017, 119:328-337.
• Tchórzewska D., Deryło K., Winiarczyk K. (2017) Cytological and biophysical comparative analysis of cell structures at the microsporogenesis stage in sterile and fertile Allium species. Planta. 2017, 245(1):137-150.
• Sowa-Jasiłek A., Zdybicka-Barabas A., Stączek S., Wydrych J., Skrzypiec K., Mak P., Deryło K., Tchórzewski M., Cytryńska M. (2016) Galleria mellonella lysozyme induces apoptotic changes in Candida albicans cells. Microbiological Research, 193:121-131.
• Rachwał K., Boguszewska A., Kopcińska J., Karaś M., Tchórzewski M., Janczarek M. (2016) The Regulatory Protein RosR Affects Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii Protein Profiles, Cell Surface Properties, and Symbiosis with Clover. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7:1302.
• Wawiórka L., Molestak E., Szajwaj M., Michalec-Wawiórka B., Boguszewska A., Borkiewicz L., Liudkovska V., Kufel J., Tchórzewski M. (2016) Functional analysis of the uL11 protein impact on translational machinery. Cell Cycle, 15(8):1060-1072.
• Molon M., Szajwaj M., Tchorzewski M., Skoczowski A., Niewiadomska E., Zadrag-Tecza R. (2016) The rate of metabolism as a factor determining longevity of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast. Age, 38(1):11.
• Michalec-Wawiorka B., Wawiorka L., Derylo K., Krokowski D., Boguszewska A., Molestak E., Szajwaj M., Tchorzewski M. (2015) Molecular behavior of human Mrt4 protein, MRTO4, in stress conditions is regulated by its C-terminal region. The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, 69,233-240.
• Wawiórka L., Krokowski D., Gordiyenko Y., Krowarsch D., Robinson C.V., Adam I., Grankowski N., Tchórzewski M. (2015) In vivo formation of Plasmodium falciparum ribosomal stalk - A unique mode of assembly without stable heterodimeric intermediates. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects, 1850(1), 150-158.
• Tchórzewska D., Deryło K., Błaszczyk L., Winiarczyk K. (2015) Tubulin cytoskeleton during microsporogenesis in the male-sterile genotype of Allium sativum and fertile Allium ampeloprasum L. Plant Reproduction, 2015, 28(3-4):171-82.
• Ban N., Beckmann R., Cate J.H., Dinman J.D., Dragon F., Ellis S.R., Lafontaine D.L., Lindahl L., Liljas A., Lipton J.M., McAlear M.A., Moore P.B., Noller H.F., Ortega J., Panse V.G., Ramakrishnan V., Spahn C.M., Steitz T.A., Tchorzewski M., Tollervey D., Warren A.J., Williamson J.R., Wilson D., Yonath A., Yusupov M. (2014) A new system for naming ribosomal proteins. Current Opinion in Structural Biology, 24, 165-169.