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- Detailed Information
Juergen Polle
Professor
Biology
Location: 425 Ingersoll Hall Extension
Phone: 718.951.5000 x2025
Fax: 718.951.4659
Email:
Juergen Polle is professor in the Department of Biology. He joined Brooklyn College in fall 2002. From 1997 to 2002 he was postdoc in the laboratory of Dr. A. Melis at the University of California, Berkeley.
Education:
Doctor Rer. Nat., Georg-August University (Goettingen, Germany) - 1997 (Biology)
Areas of Expertise:
Juergen Polle is a leading expert in microalgae biotechnology. For the past 20 years he worked with various microalgae, including unicellular green algae, diatoms and cyanobacteria. Polle is internationally recognized for his work on algae of the genus Dunaliella. His research focuses on photosynthesis, secondary carotenoid biosynthesis and biofuels production from microalgae. His research was funded in the past by, for example, the U.S. DOE, NIH and Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Doctoral Rotation Projects:
Biofuels from microalgae. Research includes cell culture for isolation of new algae strains, basic molecular biology and biochemistry. In addition, algae genomics consists of annotation of metabolic pathways relevant for biofuels.
Books and Publications
Lohr, M., J. Schwender and J.E.W. Polle. "Isoprenoid Biosynthesis in Eukaryotic Phototrophs: A Spotlight on Algae." Plant Science 185-186: 9-22. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2012
Ramos, A.A., J.E.W. Polle, D. Tran, J. Cushman, E.S. Jin and J.C. Varela. "The Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina as a Model for Abiotic Stress: Genetic Advances and Future Perspectives." Algae. In press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2011
Zhang, F., J. Vierock, O. Yizhar, L.E. Fenno, S. Tsunoda, A. Kianianmomeni, M. Prigge, A. Berndt, J. Cushman, J. Polle, J. Magnuson, P. Hegemann, and K. Deisseroth. "The Microbial Opsin Family of Optogenetic Tools." Cell 147: 1446-57. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2011
Blanc, G., G. Duncan, I. Agarkova, M. Borodovsky, J. Gurnon, A. Kuo, E. Lindquist, J.E.W. Polle, A. Salamov,A. Terry, T. Yamada, D.D. Dunigan, I.V. Grigoriev, J.-M. Claverie and J.L. van Etten. "The Chlorella variabilis NC64A Genome Reveals Adaptation to Photosymbiosis, Coevolution With Viruses, and Cryptic Sex." Plant Cell 22.9: 2943-55. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Kim, M., S. Park, J.E.W. Polle and E.S. Jin. "cDNA Microarray Analysis of the Transcriptome of Dunaliella sp. (Chlorophyta) Grown Under Different Salinities." Phycological Research 58.1: 17-28. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Schubert, B.A., M.N. Timofeeff, T.K. Lowenstein and J.E.W. Polle. "Dunaliella Cells in Fluid Inclusions in Halite: Significance for Long-term Survival of Prokaryotes." Journal of Geomicrobiology 27.1: 61-75. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Smith, R., R.W. Lee, J.C. Cushman, J.K. Magnuson, D. Tran and J.E.W. Polle. "The Dunaliella salina organelle Genomes: Large Sequences, Inflated With Intronic and Intergenic DNA." BMC Plant Biology 83. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2010
Ben-Amotz, Ami, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. The Alga Dunaliella. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Edited Book) 2009
Gonzalez, M.A., P.I. Gomez and J.E.W. Polle. "Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Dunaliella." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Jin, E.S. and J.E.W. Polle. "Carotenoids in the Alga Dunaliella." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Polle, J.E.W. and S. Qin. "Development of Genetics and Molecular Tool Kits for Species of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella (Chlorophyta)." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Polle, J.E.W., D. Tran and A. Ben-Amotz. "History, Distribution and Habitats of Algae of the Genus Dunaliella TEODORESCO (Chlorophyceae)." The Alga Dunaliella. Eds. Ami Ben-Amotz, Juergen E.W. Polle and D.V. Subba Rao. Science Publishers. (Books and Publications: Chapter) 2009
Tran, D., J. Haven, W-G. Qiu and J.E.W. Polle. "An Update on Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Algae: Phylogenetic Evidence for the Existence of Two Classes of Phytoene Synthase." Planta 229: 723-29. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2009
Polle, J.E.W., L. Struwe and E.S. Jin. "Identification and Characterization of a New Strain of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina (Teod.) From Korea." Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology 18.5: 821-27. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2008
Gordon, J.M. and J.E.W. Polle. "Ultrahigh Bioproductivity From Algae." Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 76: 969-75. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2007
Polle, J.E.W., L. Struwe and E.S. Jin. "Identification and Characterization of a New Strain of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina (Chlorophyta)." Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology. In press. (Books and Publications: Forthcoming Publications) 2007
Instructor's Manual With Test Items for the Textbook "Plant Biology." Chicago: Thomson Gale. (Books and Publications: Book) 2006
Park, S., J.E. Polle, A. Melis, T.K. Lee and E. Jin. "Up-regulation of Photoprotection and PSH-repair Gene Expression by Irradiance in the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina." Marine Biotechnology 8.2: 120-28. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005
Yokthongwattana, K., T. Savchenko, J.E. Polle and A. Melis. "Isolation and Characterization of a Xanthophyll-rich Fraction From the Thylakoid Membrane of Dunalella salina (green algae)." Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences 4.12: 1028-34. (Books and Publications: Peer Reviewed Article) 2005
Creative Work
Lectures for the summer course "Capturing the Sun?" Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston. 2009
Patent application, for "Regulating the Production of Isoprenoids in Algal Cells." 2009
Patent application, for "Regulating the Production of Long Chain Hydrocarbons." 2009
Awards, Honors and Fellowships
Member, National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products. (Grants and Fellowships) 2013
Leonard and Claire Tow Professor, 2011-12. (Awards and Honors) 2011
Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, for "Development of Pollution Prevention Technologies."
J.E.W. Polle and R. Sanchez-Delgado, co-principal investigators. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, for "National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts - An Algal Biofuels Research Consortium." Co-principal investigator. Consortium under the lead of the Donald Danforth Center and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. (Grants and Fellowships) 2010
Utah DNR collaborative grant, for "Great Salt Lake Microalgae Populations as Indicator Species of Habitat Quality: Novel Methods for Monitoring." J.E. Polle and Dr. Baxter (Westminster College). (Grants and Fellowships) 2009
AFOSR, for creating a collection of microalgae for biofuels research. (Grants and Fellowships) 2007
Research Activities
Joined the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels & Bioproducts. 2009
Attended the 7th European Workshop on Microalgal Biotechnology, Potsdam, Germany. 2007
Attended the Algae Biomass Summit, San Francisco. 2007
Attended the Eastern Regional Photosynthesis Conference, Woods Hole, Mass. 2007
Attended the Western Regional Photosynthesis Conference, Pacific Grove, Calif. 2007
Set up the Dunaliella Culture collection, Brooklyn College. 2003
Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums
"Discovery and Development of Strains of Microalgae for Phototrophic Biofuels Applications." 9th European Workshop Biotechnology of Microalgae. Nuthetal, Germany. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Isoprenoid Metabolism in Microalgae: Biosynthesis, Regulation, and Metabolic Sinks." 2nd International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Isoprenoid Metabolism in theDiverse Lineages of Micoalgae." 6th Algae Biomass Summit. Denver. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Biofuels: From Bioprospecting to Cell Factories." Rutgers University. New Jersey. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Biofuels: Strain Selection and Metabolism." University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae for Biofuels & Bioproducts: From Bioprospecting to Strain Analysis." V Convención de Energía Renovable y Eficiencia Energética. Galileo Univeridad. Guatemala City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Microalgae Strain Development:From Cell Isolation to Cell Factories." Brooklyn College. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Strain Development of Microalgae:From Strain Isolation to Cell Factories." Conference on Genomics & Systems Biology. NYU Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2012
"Identification of Novel Strains of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." 3rd Annual Algae World Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Identification of Novel Strains of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. St. Louis, July 17-20. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Lipidomics of the Unicellular Green Alga Dunaliella salina" poster. U.S. DOE Joint Genome Institute User Meeting. Walnut Creek, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2011
"Microalgae Strain Development for Biofuels Applications." 3rd Annual Algae World Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Microalgae Strain Development for Biofuels Applications." Lehman College (CUNY). The Bronx, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Optimizing the Selection of Microalgae for Oil Production." Algae Biomass Summit. Minneapolis. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Overcoming Biological Challenges Through Strain Development." Brookhaven National Laboratory. Upton, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"The Potential of Microalgae for Biofuels Applications: Identification of Novel Strains of Algae." Hofstra University. Hempstead, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2011
"Microalgae for Biofuels Applications." Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos, N.M., August. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"Photosynthetic Efficiencies in Microalgae Cultures." 8th European Workshop on Algae Biotechnology. Potsdam, Germany, June. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2010
"A Model Halophyte -- The Green Alga Dunaliella Salina" poster. User Meeting of the U.S. DOE Joint Genome Institute. Walnut Creek, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2009
"Algae to Biofuels: From Strain Isolation to Strain Engineering." Institute of Bioengineering. Santa Clara, Calif. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"From Bio-Prospecting for New Microalgae Strains to Strain Engineering." Algal Biotechnology & Bioenergy Seminar. Scripps Institution of Oceanography. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"High Through-put Isolation and Screening of Novel Algal Strains for Biofuels Applications." Algae Biomass Summit. San Diego. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
2nd Conference of the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
AIChE Annual Meeting. Nashville, Tenn. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
Westminster College. Salt Lake City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2009
"A Century With the Halophilic Alga Dunaliella: An Update." Binghamton University (SUNY). Binghamton, N.Y. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Algae to Biofuels: From Strain Isolation to Strain Engineering." National Renewable Energy Laboratories. Golden, Colo. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Algae to Fuels." Summer Seminar Series on Governor's Island for CUNY Sustainable Cities. New York. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Bioprospecting for Microalgae." AFOSR-NREL Workshop. Arlington, Va. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Bioprospecting of Microalgae and the Alga Dunaliella." Utah State University. Logan, Utah. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Carotenoid Biosynthesis in the Halophilic Alga Dunaliella salina TEOD (Chlorophyta)." Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research. Salt Lake City. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Creating a Culture Collection of Microalgae for Biofuels Research." AFOSR review meeting. Arlington, Va., August. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2008
"Creating a Collection of Microalgae for Biofuels Research." AFOSR-NREL Workshop on Algae Biofuels. Golden, Colo. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Development of Molecular and Genetic Tools for the Unicellular Alga Dunaliella salina (Chlorophyta)" poster. International Marine Biotechnology Conference. Eilat, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Marine Microalgae for Greenhouse Gas Abatement." International Marine Biotechnology Conference. Eilat, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Microalgae." Ben-Gurion University. Sede Boker, Israel. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
"Enhancing Productivity of Microalgae." University of Nevada at Reno. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Invited Talk) 2007
Project Kaleidoskope Faculty of the 21st Century Meeting. (Conferences, Seminars and Symposiums: Conference Presentation) 2007
Professional Leadership
Editorial board member, Algal Research. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2013
Editorial board member, Journal of Applied Phycology. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2013
Reviewer for USDA. (Professional Leadership: Public Service) 2013
Reviewer for various journals. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2012
Session chairman, Biology Track, "Advances in Algal Research V: Microbial Ecology, Biological Threats and Crop Protection in Algal Mass Culture," Algae Biomass Summit. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2011
Member, editorial board, Journal of Applied Phycology. (Professional Leadership: Committee Service) 2010
Session co-chair, Conference of the International Society for Salt Lake Research, Salt Lake City. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2008
Member, consortium responsible for the genome sequencing project of the unicellular green alga Dunaliella salina. Sequencing of the genome is in process by the Joint Genome Institute. (Professional Leadership: Organizational Leadership Position) 2007
Pedagogical Achievements
Created the graduate course Genomics & Beyond to introduce the concept of systems biology into the curriculum at Brooklyn College. 2010
Other Professional Activities
Reviewer for manuscripts from various journals. 2013
"BioEnergy I - Energy Through Photosynthesis" and "BioEnergy II - Algae to Fuels" guest lectures for the course Capturing the Sun. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston, August. 2010
Ad hoc reviewer for grants from the USDA and the U.S. Department of Energy. 2010
Sabbatical with the algae biofuels company 'Sapphire Energy'. 2009
"Biofuels From Algae." Brooklyn College Sustainability Round Table. 2008
Invited participant, U.S. Department of Energy roadmap workshop, Maryland, December. 2008





