Cell Size and Ploidy: From Single Cells to the Physiology of Vertebrate Embryos
Event details
| Date | 28.02.2024 |
| Hour | 09:15 › 10:15 |
| Speaker | Clotilde Cadart, Ph.D., Group Leader, Institut Cochin, Paris (FR) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR
Abstract:
Cell size correlates positively with DNA content both within species as a function of ploidy (i.e. genome copy number) and across species as a function of genome size yet the impacts on cellular and organismal physiology are poorly understood. Xenopus frogs are ideal for exploring this question since their genome size varies widely across species and ploidy can be manipulated within a species. During my postdoctoral work (UC Berkeley, Pr. Heald’s lab), I found that triploid X. laevis and X. borealis tadpoles of identical mass to diploids consist of fewer, larger cells and consume oxygen at a lower rate. Comparison with a dodecaploid species, X. longipes, revealed that metabolic differences emerged during development only when cell size began to scale with genome size. These findings suggest that genome size affects metabolism through changes in cell size and that less energy is required to sustain larger cells within the same multicellular organism. In future work, my research will combine experiments on single cells and Xenopus embryos to understand how cell and genome size/ploidy affect the physiology and evolution of multicellular organisms.
Bio:
2024 - Present Junior Group Leader, Institut Cochin, Paris (FR)
2018 - 2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
2013 - 2018 Ph.D., Institut Curie, Paris (FR)
2012 - 2013 Master's degree, Biophysics, Université Paris Cité, Paris (FR)
2009 - 2012 study of Medicine, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/67478649238
Abstract:
Cell size correlates positively with DNA content both within species as a function of ploidy (i.e. genome copy number) and across species as a function of genome size yet the impacts on cellular and organismal physiology are poorly understood. Xenopus frogs are ideal for exploring this question since their genome size varies widely across species and ploidy can be manipulated within a species. During my postdoctoral work (UC Berkeley, Pr. Heald’s lab), I found that triploid X. laevis and X. borealis tadpoles of identical mass to diploids consist of fewer, larger cells and consume oxygen at a lower rate. Comparison with a dodecaploid species, X. longipes, revealed that metabolic differences emerged during development only when cell size began to scale with genome size. These findings suggest that genome size affects metabolism through changes in cell size and that less energy is required to sustain larger cells within the same multicellular organism. In future work, my research will combine experiments on single cells and Xenopus embryos to understand how cell and genome size/ploidy affect the physiology and evolution of multicellular organisms.
Bio:
2024 - Present Junior Group Leader, Institut Cochin, Paris (FR)
2018 - 2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
2013 - 2018 Ph.D., Institut Curie, Paris (FR)
2012 - 2013 Master's degree, Biophysics, Université Paris Cité, Paris (FR)
2009 - 2012 study of Medicine, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR)
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/67478649238
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Dietrich REINHARD