Jonikas Lab

Our laboratory seeks to advance our basic understanding of cell biology. We study the pyrenoid, a mysterious phase-separated organelle that enhances CO2 capture in nearly all eukaryotic algae. Understanding the pyrenoid is important because of its central role in our planet’s carbon cycle, because the pyrenoid embodies fundamental questions in organelle biogenesis, and because engineering a pyrenoid into land plants could dramatically increase crop yields. To accelerate progress, we are developing community resources for the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a model system for photosynthetic organisms.