Biochemistry professor Christoph Benning received the Terry Galliard Award at the 19th International Symposium on Plant Lipids in Cairns, Australia.
Benning was recognized as an outstanding scientist who continues to make highly significant contributions to the field of plant lipid research. Benning and his research partners identified novel genes encoding enzymes of sulfolipid, galactolipid and betaine lipid biosynthesis in bacteria, plants and algae. His work enables scientists to understanding the biosynthesis of these lipids.
Many of Benning’s findings have been patented and some are beginning to be licensed to biotech companies for the development of novel crop plants. Benning has isolated the gene for a transcription factor regulating seed oil biosynthesis in plants. He discovered the remodeling of membranes following phosphate deprivation in plants and is in the process of uncovering the mechanisms of lipid trafficking in plant cells.
The Terry Galliard Award is named after the founding organizer of the International Symposia on Plant Lipids which began in 1974 in Norwich, Great Britain. Galliard worked as a postdoc in the laboratory of Paul Stumpf, one of the early center’s of plant fatty acid and lipid research in the US. Michigan State University’s John Ohlrogge was a postdoc in the Stumpf laboratory and is a previous winner of the Galliard Medal.
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