Research
Calcium is one of the most important second messengers of eukaryotic cells. A number of external as well as internal stimuli result in a spatial and temporary increase in calcium concentration that is detected by a number of calcium-sensitive proteins, such as calmodulin. Calmodulin modulate a wide variety of cellular processes such as gene expression, phosphorylation cascades or ion transport resulting in a cellular response to the original stimulus. The whole cell is integrated into the calcium/calmodulin network and there is growing evidence that this includes both endosymbiotic organelles. In this context, we study processes in mitochondria and chloroplast that are regulated via Ca2+/Calmodulin, including the identification and characterization of calmodulins and calmodulin-targets involved in this regulation.