Curriculum vitae

Martina Bečková, MSc., Ph.D.

ORCID: 0000-0002-7037-1523

Affiliation

Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Algatech Centre, Novohradská 237 - Opatovický mlýn, 379 81 Třeboň, CZ,

E-mail: beckova@alga.cz  Phone: + 420 384 340 492

Apointment

Postdoctoral Fellow

Education

• 2004 - 2008, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Science, Bachelor´s programme: Biology; Identification of filamentous virus which infected red clover (Trifolium pratense). Research advisor: Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Karel Petrzik, CSc.
• 2008 - 2010, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Science, Master´s programme: Experimental Biology; Identification and sequencing genome of a new virus infecting lucerne. Research advisor: Assoc. Prof. RNDr. Karel Petrzik, CSc.
• 2010 - 2016, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Faculty of Science, PhD programme: Molecular and Cell Biology and Genetics; Role of Psb28 proteins in the biogenesis of the Photosystem II complex in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Research advisor: Prof. RNDr. Josef Komenda, CSc., DSc.

Employment

• 2010 - 2016, PhD student, Laboratory of Photosynthesis,  Algatech Centre, Institute of Microbiology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, CZ
• 2017 - 2024, Postdoctoral fellow, Laboratory of Photosynthesis, Centre Algatech, Institute of Microbiology, The Czech Academy of Sciences ,Třeboň, Czech Republic.
• 2024 - Present, Maternity and parental leave

International research visits

• Summer 2013, Three month-employment as a research assistant in the Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Centre, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary
• Autumn 2021, Three-month postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Prof. Alice Barkan, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Participation in conferences

Posters

• M. Bečková, R. Sobotka, M. Tichý, P. J. Nixon and J. Komenda. Localization and possible function of the Psb28-2 protein in the biogenesis of the Photosystem II complex in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. 14th International Symposium of Phototrophic Prokaryotes, 2012, Porto, Portugal. Abstract book pp. 131.
• M. Bečková, Z. Gardian, R. Sobotka, P. J. Nixon and J. Komenda. Modular assembly of Photosystem II: role of auxiliary protein factors and Photosystem II-Photosystem I supercomplexes in cyanobacteria. EMBO|EMBL Symposium: Molecular Machines – Lessons from Integrating Structure, Biophysics and Chemistry, May 18-21 2014, Heidelberg. Poster no. 81.
• M. Bečková, Z. Gardian, R. Sobotka, P. J. Nixon and J. Komenda. Modular assembly of the cyanobacterial Photosystem II: localization and role of auxiliary protein factors. 9th European Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria, 2014, Texel, The Netherlands. Abstract book pp. 96.
• M. Bečková, J. W. Murray, J. Yu, V. Krynická, P. J. Nixon and J. Komenda. The Psb29 protein interacts with the FtsH2/FtsH3 protease complex in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. The 17th International Congress on Photosynthesis Research, 2016, MECC, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Abstract book pp. 143.
• M. Bečková, J. Knoppová, G. Pascual, L. Bučinská, R. Sobotka and J. Komenda. Role of specific Photosystem II complexes in the cyanobacterial chlorophyll-a biosynthesis in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. 10th International Conference of Photosynthesis and Hydrogen Energy Research for Sustainability, 2019, Saint Petersburg, Russia. Abstract book pp. 43.

Research interest and current research work

Within the group of Josef Komenda, Martina (MaB) participates in the research on biogenesis and maintenance of photosystem II (PSII). In her Ph.D. thesis, she focused on the auxiliary factors involved in the late stages of PSII assembly, Psb28 and Psb29 (Bečková et al., 2017a; Bečková et al., 2017b). She also studied so called super-rogue D1 (PsbA4, ChlF), a paralogue of the D1 subunit of photosystem II (PSII), responsible for chlorophyl-f synthesis in certain cyanobacteria absorbing in the far-red region of the solar spectrum (Trinugroho et al., 2020, Masuda et al., 2023). In cooperation with Prof. Alice Barkan (University of Oregon, USA), MaB is involved in optimization of ribosome profiling for the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. In addition, she has collaborated on the development of new cultivation facilities at Algatech. In July 2024 MB went on maternity leave.