Sterols mediate deadly messages in marine diatoms

The marine diatoms are unicellular algae that play an important ecological role in the global primary production These unicellular protists are able to survive and proliferate in a wide range of environmental conditions, by adapting their metabolism through mechanisms largely unknown. Understanding these processes is of great ecological interest and can have wide application in different biotechnological sectors.This thesis has identified for the first time the role of secondary metabolites with pro apoptotic effects in diatoms. In addition to the different tools that have been developed to carry out this study, the major outcome of this work concerns the first establishment of a cellular mechanism to control Programmed Cell Death in the lineage and the first direct elucidation of the biosynthesis in these organisms.