dr. E.C. (Eelco) Tromer
Research interests
I am a molecular cell biologist with extensive training in evolutionary bioinformatics and a keen interest in multi-disciplinary team-driven science. My main research interests are the mechanisms and evolutionary origins of chromosome recombination and segregation during mitosis and meiosis in (microbial) eukaryotes.
My research is particularly
focused on two rapidly evolving structures: kinetochores
and synaptonemal complexes. Kinetochores are small
cellular structures that connect the chromosomal DNA to thread-like
microtubules emanating from the spindle apparatus during cell
division. Synaptonemal complexes resemble a large zipper-like
structure that forms between homologous chromosomes during meiosis
to mediate synapsis, recombination, crossover and finally promotes
accurate segregation.
Using a combination of
comparative genomics, high-resolution imaging and
proteomics, I aim to elucidate the inner workings and
evolutionary history of these crucial parts of the (a)sexual cell
division machinery in a wide variety of eukaryotic creatures. With
the tools and models that I will develop I hope to contribute
towards the establishment of cell biology as a comparative
and evolutionary discipline, driving not only the
functional understanding of eukaryotes in a broader phylogenetic
context, but also to uncover the principles of cellular
evolution itself.