Regular biography
Associate Professor Oliver Mueller-Cajar is affiliated with the School of Biological Sciences at Nanyang Technological University. His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms that enhance the performance of the CO2-fixing enzyme rubisco, particularly in chemoautotrophic bacteria, plants, red algae, and diatoms. His work explores the role of molecular chaperones, molecular motors, and protein-protein interactions in rubisco function and compartmentation. Mueller-Cajar's research also investigates the role of liquid-liquid phase separation in membraneless organelles, such as the diatom pyrenoid. His studies have contributed to understanding the regulation of rubisco activases and their interactions with rubisco subunits.
Scholar-generated biography
Oliver Mueller-Cajar is an Associate Professor at Nanyang Technological University, specializing in photosynthesis, molecular chaperones, carbon fixation, and biochemistry. His research focuses on the structural and functional mechanisms of Rubisco activases, particularly the AAA+ proteins involved in enzyme repair and activation. He investigates the role of molecular chaperones in protein folding and assembly, with an emphasis on their impact on the evolvability of Rubisco. His work also explores phase separation phenomena in microalgal systems and the evolution of Rubisco variants for improved CO2 fixation. Mueller-Cajar's studies contribute to understanding how these processes enhance photosynthetic efficiency and plant resilience to environmental stress.