• Diplom in Biology, Georg-August University, Gottingen 1994

• Doktor in Biology, Georg-August University, Gottingen 1997

• Post doctoral research - University of California 1997-2002

Research Specialities

Regulation of acclimation of photosystem II activity;
Light harvesting protein complexes of unicellular green algae;
Carotenoid over-accumulation in microalgae;
Effect of truncated chlorophyll antenna sizes on production of high-value commodities.

Highlights of current projects:
• Carotenoids are 40-carbon isoprenoids that are integral and essential components of the photosynthetic membranes in all plants. Carotenoids that function within the photosynthetic machinery are commonly referred to as primary carotenoids, because they are essential. In contrast, secondary carotenoids are defined functionally as those carotenoids that are not required for photosynthesis and are not localized in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplast.
• Unicellular green algae of the genus Dunaliella and Haematococcus over-accumulate secondary carotenoids such as ß-carotene or the ketocarotenoid astaxanthin in lipid vesicles in the chloroplast stroma or in the cytosol upon environmental stress (cartenogenesis). Such environmental stress conditions are for example high salt concentrations, high irradiance or nitrogen deficiency. This laboratory is interested in the molecular mechanisms that regulate secondary carotenoid over-accumulation in unicellular green algae.

A few highlights from publications in major journals:
• Polle JEW and Melis A (1999), Recovery of the photosynthetic apparatus from photoinhibition during dark incubation of the green alga Dunaliella salina. Aust J Plant Physiol 26 (7): 679-686
• Polle JEW, Benemann JR, Tanaka A and Melis A (2000), Photosynthetic apparatus organization and function in wild type and a Chl b-less mutant of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Dependence on carbon source. Planta 211(3): 335-344
• Doltchinkova VR, Georgieva K, Kapchina-Toveta V, and Polle JEW (2000), Electrokinetic properties of thylakoids in in vitro cultured Gyopsophila paniculata plants. Aust J Plant Physiol 27 (11): 1085-1091
• Polle JEW, Niyogi KK and Melis A, (2001), Absence of lutein, violaxanthin and neoxanthin affects the functional chlorophyll antenna size of photosystem-II but not that of photosystem-I in the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Cell Physiol 42 (5): 482-491
• Polle J, Kanakagiri S, Benemann JR and Melis A (2001), Maximizing photosynthetic efficiencies and hydrogen production by microalgal cultures. In, Biohydrogen II: An Approach to Environmentally Acceptable Technology (J Miyake, T Matsunanga and A San Pietro, Eds.), pp. 111-130. Pergamon Press, Oxford, UK
• Jin ES, Polle JEW, and Melis A (2001), Involvement of Zeaxanthin and of the Cbr protein in the repair of photosystem II from photoinhibition in the green alga Dunaliella salina. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1506 (3): 244-259
• Masuda T, Polle JEW, and Melis A (2002), Biosynthesis and Distribution of Chl among the photosystems during recovery of the green alga Dunaliella salina from irradiance stress. Plant Physiol, 128: 603-614
• Lokstein H, Tian L, Polle JEW, and DellaPenna D (2002), Xanthophyll Biosynthetic Mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana: Altered Nonphotochemical Quenching of Chlorophyll Fluorescence is due to Changes in Photosystem II Antenna Size and Stability. Biochim Biophys Acta, 1553: 309-319
• Polle JEW, Kanakagiri S, Jin ES, Masuda T, and Melis A (2002), Truncated chlorophyll antenna size of the photosystems - A practical method to improve microalgal productivity and hydrogen production in mass culture. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 27:1257-1264 Jin ES,
• Polle JEW, Lee HK, and Chang M (2003), Xanthophylls in microalgae: From biosynthesis to biotechnological mass production and application. J Microbiol and Biotechnol, 13(2): 165-174
• Polle JEW, Kanakagiri S, and Melis A (2003), TLA1, a Chlamydomonas reinhardtii nuclear gene regulates the chlorophyll antenna size of photosynthesis. Planta, 217: 49-59 Jin ES,
• Polle JEW, Melis (2003), Role of the reversible xanthophylls cycle in the photosystem-II damage and repair cycle in Dunaliella salina (green alga). Plant Physiology, 132: 352-364
• Yokthonkwattana K, Polle JEW, Melis (2003), Cellular fractionation and carotenoid isolation in Dunaliella salina (green alga). Planta, submitted
• K Yokthongwattana, T Savchenko, JE Polle, and A Melis, Isolation and characterization of a xanthophyll-rich fraction from the thylakoid membrane of Dunaliella salina (green algae). (2005) Photochem Photobiol Sci 4(12): 1028-1034
• ES Jin, C-G Lee, and JEW Polle Secondary Carotenoid Accumulation in Haematococcus (Chlorophyceae): Biosynthesis, Regulation and Biotechnology. Mar Biotechnol, in press
• S Park, JE Polle, A Melis, TK Lee, and E Jin Up-Regulation of Photoprotection and PSII-Repair Gene Expression by Irradiance in the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina. Mar Biotechnol (NY), 8(2): 120-128