Seminar ”Plant-Animal Hybrid Cells: Challenging the Creation of "Planimal" Cells”

Speaker: Prof. Sachihiro Matsunaga, Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo

Title: Plant-Animal Hybrid Cells: Challenging the Creation of "Planimal" Cells

Abstract:

The emergence of plant cells is thought to have resulted from eukaryotic cells accepting photosynthetic bacteria or algae without digestion, leading to symbiosis. To understand this mechanism, we are conducting research involving the fusion of  algae with animal cells, or the introduction of these into animal cultured cells. We aim to introduce the behavior of the hybrid cells that possess the genomes of both animal and algal cells. We have successfully transferred the entire algal genome intact into mammalian cells through cell fusion. By comprehensively analyzing the features of the DNA sequence and three-dimensional structure, gene expression control, and epigenetic modifications,including DNA methylation, in the resulting animal-plant hybrid genome, we aim to understand the initial process of horizontal gene transfer. Furthermore, we investigated the morphology and physiological activity when chloroplasts, the site of photosynthetic reactions, were introduced into animal cultured cells. Through this, we explored the possibility of initiating photosynthesis within the animal cell environment.