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Laboratory of
Plant Cell
Physiology and Molecular Biology
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Gerhard Link, Ph.D.
Professor of Plant Biology
University of Bochum
Department of Biology and Biotechnology, ND2/72
Laboratory of Plant Cell Physiology &
Molecular Biology
Universitaetsstr. 150
D-44780 Bochum
Germany
Phone: +49-234-322-5495
Fax: +49-234-321-4188
eMail: gerhard.link@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
local address:
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Link
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, ND2/72,
Pflanzliche Zellphysiologie und Molekularbiologie
Universitätsstr. 150
D-44780 Bochum
Tel.: 0234 - 322-5495
Fax: 0234 - 321-4188
CV
- Ph.D. in Botany/Biochemistry,
University of Hannover, Germany, 1974
- Research Associate, Hannover Medical
School, 1974-1976
- DFG/EMBO Fellow, Harvard
University, The Biol.
Labs., 1976-1979
- Habilitation, Plant Molecular Biology,
University of Freiburg, Germany, 1982
- Visiting Assistant Professor,
Rockefeller University, N.Y., 1982
- Heisenberg Assoc. Prof., University of
Freiburg, Germany, 1982-1985
- Group Leader and Member
of Bio/Technol. Dept., Univ. of Bochum, since 1985
Research Interest
- Plant Molecular, Cellular, and
Developmental Biology
- DNA: Gene Regulation, Transcription
- RNA: Post-Transcriptional Regulation
- Proteins: Modification
& Signal Transduction Mechanisms
- Chloroplasts as Models in Basic and
Applied Plant Research
Summary
Plants are at the core of
nature´s garden -
just imagine what would we be without them? Perhaps most importantly,
plants
are capable of harvesting sunlight in a process termed
"photosynthesis" that takes place inside green cells in so-called
chloroplasts.
Unfortunately this clever process, which basically takes advantage of
the light
energy for synthesis of molecules that are good for the plant and for
us, has
one serious drawback: The photosynthetic apparatus gets rapidly
destroyed
unless its core proteins are replenished as a result of gene
expression.
Exactly how this happens is still far from clear, but research on the
underlying gene regulatory mechanisms can be considered to provide
major
advances in our understanding, and may guide attempts to control these
processes. Considering the importance of plant products for human
well-being,
the potential of research in this area can be readily envisaged.
We have
concentrated our efforts on chloroplast
proteins involved in the control of gene expression, e.g. RNA
polymerases,
transcription factors, DNA- and RNA binding proteins, and signaling
components
including protein kinases and redox mediators. We have isolated and
characterized a number of these proteins and have succeeded in the
cloning of
their genes. This has allowed insights into the role and interaction of
various
components of the plastid gene expression system, as well as in their
coding
site and intracellular site of synthesis. Gene cloning and
overexpression, in
combination with mutational and functional assays, have helped reach a
better
understanding of plastid gene expression in general, and this may
provide a
basis for strategies to optimize plastid biosynthetic processes in a
specific developmental and environmental context.
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