Konwersatorium im. J.Pniewskiego i L.Infelda

Exploring microbial diversity to understand the evolution of eukaryotic cell

The emergence of eukaryotes, cells with organelles such as nucleus and mitochondria or plastids, had a revolutionary impact on the subsequent history of life, leading to the evolution of complex multicellular organisms. I will discuss the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria and plastids from bacteria, and their subsequent evolution. Finally, I will focus on our discovery of a unicellular organism Monocercomonoides, the first known eukaryote with no mitochondrion. Investigation of Monocercomonoides allowed us to understand how endosymbiosis can be undone and how this affects the cellular complexity.

Pobierz prezentację dr Anny Karnkowskiej / Download the presentation of dr Anna Karnkowska


A three-dimensional map of the Milky Way based on classical Cepheids

We know that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, but methods used to describe it in more detail have been indirect and based on various assumptions. This, combined with the fact that we live within the disk and observe it through clouds of gas and dust, makes it very difficult to make a precise map of our Galaxy. However, there is a class of young variable supergiant stars, called classical Cepheids, to which we can measure distances with a great accuracy. I will show how we used a large sample of these stars to create a new, detailed map of the Milky Way in three dimensions, and what they can tell us about the recent history of our Galaxy.

Pobierz prezentację dr Doroty Skowron / Download the presentation of dr Dorota Skowron [.odp]
Pobierz prezentację dr Doroty Skowron / Download the presentation of dr Dorota Skowron [.pdf]

The colloquium will take place via ZOOM. For the parameters, see the October 26, 2020 lecture.

Pobierz plakat / Download the poster

Pobierz nagranie / Download the recording