Speaker: Andriko von Kügelgen (MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, United Kingdom)
Titel: Multiscale in situ Imaging of Cell Surfaces: From Molecules to Microbiomes and Infection
ABSTRACT
Most cells interact with their environment through dense glycoprotein coats that mediate transport, defence, signalling, and adaptation. Using electron cryotomography (cryo-ET) and associated techniques, I first resolved native glycoprotein assemblies in bacteria and archaea, revealing how cell-surface architecture shapes microbial physiology. I then extended these structural approaches from isolated cells to environmentally derived microbial communities by developing a cryogenic FIB-SEM workflow for volumetric mapping, targeted lamella preparation, and cryo-ET of selected organisms. This multiscale imaging strategy enables molecular reconstruction directly within mixed microbiomes, including rare taxa that resist classical cultivation. Applied to candidate Asgard archaea, the closet known eukaryotic relative, it supported ribosome-based taxonomic assignment and revealed distinctive cell-surface features and intracellular vesicular compartments, providing new insight into archaeal cell biology and the evolution of eukaryotes.
