Professional career:

since 2011: Professor (Chair) of Molecular Biotechnology & Systems Biology at the TU Kaiserslautern

2008-2011: Group leader at the Max-Planck-Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Potsdam-Golm

2003-2008: Junior Professor at the Department of Plant Biochemistry, University of Freiburg

2001-2003: Staff scientist at the Department of Plant Biochemistry, University of Freiburg

1999-2001: Postdoctoral fellow at the IBPC Paris, France

1994-1999: PhD in Molecular Genetics, Dept. of Biology III, University of Freiburg, Germany

1988-1994: Study of Biology at the Universities of Marburg, Tennessee and Helsinki

Exposed functions:

since 2020: Member of the DFG evaluation panel 202 Plant Sciences

2015-2018: Dean of the Faculty of Biology

since 2014: Speaker of the Research Profile BioComp, TU Kaiserslautern

since 2011: Trusted lecturer of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

In our research we want to understand how protein homeostasis is ensured in the cytosolic and chloroplast compartments of a plant cell. For this, we study the players involved in protein homeostasis, i.e. chaperones and proteases, in both compartments, and the signaling pathways involved to ensure homeostasis. Furthermore, we investigate how thylakoid membranes and the protein complexes therein are formed and maintained.
These questions are addressed with systems biology approaches largely involving mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics.
Moreover, we use synthetic biology (Modular Cloning) to engineer Chlamydomonas in order to address our basic research questions and to endow this organism with new properties for applied research. 

Niemeyer J, Scheuring D, Oestreicher J, Morgan B*, Schroda M* (2021) Real-time monitoring of subcellular H₂O₂ distribution in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell 33: 2935-2949

Gupta TK, Klumpe S, Gries K, Heinz S, Wietrzynski W, Ohnishi N, Niemeyer J, Spaniol B, Schaffer M, Rast A, Ostermeier M, Strauss M, Plitzko JM, Baumeister W, Rudack T, Sakamoto W, Nickelsen J, Schuller JM*, Schroda M*, Engel BD* (2021) Structural basis for VIPP1 oligomerization and maintenance of thylakoid membrane integrity. Cell 184: 3643-3659

Crozet P, Navarro FJ, Willmund F, Mehrshahi P, Bakowski K, Lauersen KJ, Perez-Perez ME, Auroy P, Gorchs Rovira A, Sauret-Gueto S, Niemeyer J, Spaniol B, Theis J, Trosch R, Westrich LD, Vavitsas K, Baier T, Hubner W, de Carpentier F, Cassarini M, Danon A, Henri J, Marchand CH, de Mia M, Sarkissian K, Baulcombe DC, Peltier G, Crespo JL, Kruse O, Jensen PE, Schroda M*, Smith AG*, Lemaire SD* (2018) Birth of a photosynthetic chassis: a MoClo toolkit enabling synthetic biology in the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. ACS Synth Biol 7: 2074-2086

Hemme D, Veyel D, Mühlhaus T, Sommer F, Juppner J, Unger AK, Sandmann M, Fehrle I, Schönfelder S, Steup M, Geimer S, Kopka J, Giavalisco P, Schroda M* (2014) Systems-wide analysis of acclimation responses to long-term heat stress and recovery in the photosynthetic model organism Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell 26: 4270-4297

Strenkert D, Schmollinger S, Schroda M* (2013) Heat shock factor 1 counteracts epigenetic silencing of nuclear transgenes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Nucleic Acids Res 41: 5273-5289

Nordhues A, Schöttler MA, Unger AK, Geimer S, Schönfelder S, Schmollinger S, Rütgers M, Finazzi G, Soppa B, Sommer F, Mühlhaus T, Roach T, Krieger-Liszkay A, Lokstein H, Crespo JL, Schroda M* (2012) Evidence for a role of VIPP1 in the structural organization of the photosynthetic apparatus in Chlamydomonas. Plant Cell 24: 637-659

Schmollinger S, Schulz-Raffelt M, Strenkert D, Veyel D, Vallon O, Schroda M* (2013) Dissecting the heat stress response in Chlamydomonas by pharmaceutical and RNAi approaches reveals conserved and novel aspects. Mol Plant 6: 1795-1813

Strenkert D, Schmollinger S, Sommer F, Schulz-Raffelt M, Schroda M* (2011) Transcription factor dependent chromatin remodeling at heat shock and copper responsive promoters in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell 23: 2285-2301

Schroda M*, Vallon O, Whitelegge JP, Beck CF, Wollman FA (2001) The chloroplastic GrpE homolog of Chlamydomonas: two isoforms generated by differential splicing. Plant Cell 13: 2823-2839

Schroda M, Vallon O, Wollman FA, Beck CF* (1999) A chloroplast-targeted heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) contributes to the photoprotection and repair of photosystem II during and after photoinhibition. Plant Cell 11: 1165-1178