The Molecular Life of Diatoms (PDF)

tricornutum, her team has characterized diversified photoreceptors, fostering novel hypotheses on the role of these sensors in controlling growth and adaptive responses in a marine context. She also uncovered the existence of a long-foreseen diatom circadian clock, which controls essential rhythmic processes in these algae. Her team also contributed to disclose some of the diatom specific photoacclimation properties, by identifying critical regulators of photosynthesis that also influence the natural variability of diatoms photoresponses.
Thomas Mock is a Professor of Marine Microbiology in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom. He obtained his MSc (1998) in Biology with emphasis on Biological Oceanography at the Christian-Albrechts University in Kiel (GEOMAR) and his PhD (2003) at Bremen University (Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research), Germany. Before joining UEA in 2007, most of his PostDoc research was conducted with a fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in the School of Oceanography, University of Washington (E.V. Armbrust lab) in cooperation with the Biotechnology Centre, University of Wisconsin (M.R. Sussman lab), USA. Before he was promoted to Professor (Personal Chair) at UEA in 2014, he was Reader (2012-2014) and had a Research Councils UK Academic Fellowship (2007-2012).The overarching aim of his research is to identify fundamental biological processes that govern the adaptation and evolution of marine microalgae (Phytoplankton) in the oceans with emphasis on diatoms. His group uses genomics (e.g., metatranscriptomics, metagenomics) and reverse genetics tools (e.g., CRISPR/Cas) for selected phytoplankton groups (e.g., diatoms) and natural assemblages from the global upper ocean to understand their evolution, diversity, and adaptation. This work leads to the identification of genes that shape their phenotypes and are therefore responsible for their unique biology and evolutionary adaptation to different environments of the upper ocean from pole to pole.