Min Chen is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

plant physiologist. She was born in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and educated in Northeast Normal University China - BSc in 1984 and MSc in 1987 and received her PhD in 2003 from

The University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

Australia. She is a full professor and

Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the primary non-medical research funding agency of the Australian Government, distributing more than in grants each year. The Council was established by the ''Australian Research Council Act 2001'', ...

Future Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. Her research is primarily concerned with elucidating the molecular and biochemical mechanism of the energy-storing reactions in

photosynthetic Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored in c ...

organisms, especially the function of novel

photopigments Photopigments are unstable pigments that undergo a chemical change when they absorb light. The term is generally applied to the non-protein chromophore moiety of photosensitive chromoproteins, such as the pigments involved in photosynthesis and ...

in oxygenic photosynthetic bacteria.

Research

Her research found that chlorophyll f has an absorption maximum at 706nm

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology an ...

, which suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis can be extended even further into the

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...

region, which may open up associated bioenergy applications. Red-shifted chlorophylls could be used extend light capture in crop plants. Chen is the University of Sydney node leader of Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. The function of Chlorophyll f in photosynthetic reactions is uncertain and the ecological distribution of chlorophyll f remains unknown.

Awards

In October 2011, Chen was awarded the Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year, for her role in discovering a new form of chlorophyll, called chlorophyll f. In 2013 she was recipient of the Robin Hill Award of the International Society for Photosynthesis Research and in the same year awarded the Peter Goldacre Award by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists.

References

* Chen M
Chlorophyll modifications and their spectral extension in oxygenic photosynthesis
''Annu. Rev. Biochem.'' 83, 317-340(2014) . * Chen M, Blankenship RE
Expanding the solar spectrum used by photosynthesis
''Trends Plant Sci.'' 16, 427-431(2011) . * Schliep M, Crossett B, Willows RD, Chen M
18O-labelling of chlorophyll d in acaryochloris marina reveal chlorophyll a and molecular oxygen are precursors
''J. Bio. Chem.'' 285, 28450-28456(2010) . * Chen M, Floetenmeyer M and Bibby TS
Supramolecular organization of phycobiliproteins in the chlorophyll d-containing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina
''FEBS Lett.'' 583, 2535-2539 (2009) * Swingley WD, Chen M, Cheung PC, Conrad AL, Dejesa LC, Hao J, Honchak BM, Karbach LE, Kurdoglu A, Lahiri S, Mastrian SD, Miyashita H, Page L, Ramakrishna P, Satoh S, Sattley WM, Shimada Y, Taylor HL, Tomo T, Tsuchiya T, Wang ZT, Raymond J, Mimuro M, Blankenship RE, and. Touchman JW
Genome expansion in the chlorophyll d-producing cyanobacterium Acaryochloris marina
''Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.'' 105, 2005-2010 (2008) * Kühl M, Chen M, Ralph P, Schreiber U and Larkum AWD
A niche for cyanobacteria containing chlorophyll d
''Nature'' 433 820 (2005) * Bibby TS, Nield J, Chen M, Larkum AWD and Barber J
Structure of a photosystem II supercomplex isolated from Prochloron didemni retaining its chlorophyll a/b light harvesting system
''Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.'' 100 9050–9054 (2003).

External links

Homepage of Min Chen at the University of Sydney
{{DEFAULTSORT:Min, Chen Living people 1963 births Chinese emigrants to Australia University of Sydney alumni University of Sydney faculty Australian women scientists Plant physiologists Northeast Normal University alumni

Research

Awards

References

Further reading

External links