First person – Chandra Ramakrishnan Free

Chandra Ramakrishnan

How would you explain the main findings of your paper in lay terms?

Trypansoma brucei, which causes sleeping sickness, and Leishmania mexicana, which causes cutaneous leishmaniasis, are parasites which have structures called flagella in all stages of their life cycles. By contrast, the malaria parasite Plasmodium has only one flagellar stage: the male gamete, which fertilizes the female gamete to produce a zygote when inside the mosquito midgut. Inside their flagella, all these organisms have a structure made of microtubules called the axoneme. The axoneme resembles a cartwheel with nine T-shaped radial spokes extending from the outer to the central pair of microtubules. These spokes consist of proteins called radial spoke proteins (RSPs) and one of them, RSP9, is located towards the centre at the spoke head. Whereas T. brucei and L. mexicana have two similar RSP9 proteins, which are important for the beating of the flagellum and swimming movement, Plasmodium only harbours one RSP9 protein. Loss of RSP9 in Plasmodium leads to an enormous reduction in the formation of flagella, which impairs life cycle progression.

Were there any specific challenges associated with this project? If so, how did you overcome them?

We were three teams working on three organisms in three different countries, and it was a challenge but also a great opportunity to work together. Although some of us have never met in person, and we could not help each other out in the lab, we were able to discuss issues and results using online meetings and managed to finalize this project.

When doing the research, did you have a particular result or ‘eureka’ moment that has stuck with you?

I once worked on a transgenic mutant of Toxoplasma gondii that we hypothesized is not be able to produce infective oocysts, which is an important transmission stage. When I looked under the microscope expecting to observe parasite stages that looked like oocysts, I could only see non-infective stages, which meant that our hypothesis was correct.

Why did you choose Journal of Cell Science for your paper?

We worked on a protein in three different parasitic unicellular organisms and believe that our findings are not only interesting for our research community, but for all cell biologists.

Have you had any significant mentors who have helped you beyond supervision in the lab? How was their guidance special?

My first supervisors, Peter Kast and Marianne Gamper at the ETH Zurich, taught me the basics of molecular biology. The skills and rigour I learnt there, I still use today. My PhD supervisor, Bob Sinden, has an encyclopedic knowledge and guided me not only in the lab but also in my career, always encouraging me to envisage the stepping stones of my career. Adrian Hehl with whom I work now is always full of ideas and ready to venture into exciting new projects.

What motivated you to pursue a career in science, and what have been the most interesting moments on the path that led you to where you are now?

I love discovering things. As scientists, we are privileged to have a job that is fun and offers a variety of tasks not only comprising experiments and data analyses but also scientific writing, presentations and teaching. My most interesting moments are when we come up with new ideas and there is a tingle of excitement before embarking upon something new.

What's next for you?

I plan to continue research on Apicomplexa!

Tell us something interesting about yourself that wouldn't be on your CV

I love photography, especially of flowers. With my camera in the hand, I do not think about scientific discoveries, but only aim to capture the beauty of life.