Biology Seminar Series - Guest Speaker: Dr. Allison McDonald

Biology Guest Seminar Series

Speaker:  Dr. Allison McDonald

(Dept. of Biology, Wilfrid Laurier University)

Title of Seminar:  Alternative Oxidase: Respiratory Flexibility in All Domains of Life

Time:  3:30 – 4:30 pm

Location:  B2-350

View Poster (PDF) McDonald seminar

Abstract:

Cellular respiration, using electron transport systems (ETS), is crucial to the survival of all prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. ETSs are typically depicted as linear, especially in biology textbooks, but in most organisms they have a branched structure due to additional proteins that can input or remove electrons from the system. Alternative oxidase (AOX) is a mitochondrial inner membrane protein that introduces a branch point in the ETS at the level of ubiquinol, thereby resulting in a lower ATP yield per oxygen consumed. The goal of my research program is to use integrative and comparative approaches to investigate the central role that respiratory electron transport plays in metabolic and physiological adaptations to stress by studying the taxonomic distribution, function, and regulation of the AOX protein.