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Hartmut Lichtenthaler: an authority on chloroplast structure and isoprenoid biochemistry

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Abstract

We pay tribute to Hartmut Lichtenthaler for making important contributions to the field of photosynthesis research. He was recently recognized for ground-breaking discoveries in chloroplast structure and isoprenoid biochemistry by the Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR; http://vlpbp.org/), receiving a 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award for Photosynthesis. The ceremony, held in Champaign, Illinois, was attended by many prominent researchers in the photosynthesis field. We provide below a brief note on his education, and then describe some of the areas in which Hartmut Lichtenthaler has been a pioneer.

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Notes

  1. Polymers whose carbon skeletons consist in whole or in large part of isoprene units joined end to end. These include β-carotene, lycopene, vitamin A, plastoquinone-9 and the phytyl tails of chlorophyll, vitamin K1 (phylloquinone), and vitamin E (tocopherols).

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Acknowledgments

We are highly thankful to Constantin (Tino) and Carole Rebeiz for their outstanding hospitality during the celebration at the Rebeiz Foundation on September 12, 2015. We are grateful to Tino for inviting both authors of this tribute (G and TDS) to prepare a presentation honoring Hartmut. The current text and photographs are based on this presentation, and some of this material can also be found at the Foundation web side (http://vlpbp.org/). We are grateful to the generosity of the Lichtenthaler family for a number of photographs reproduced here. We thank Laurent Gasquet for Fig. 1; additional photographs by Gasquet are available via one of us (G).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1319, USA

    Thomas D. Sharkey

  2. Department of Biochemistry, Department of Plant Biology, Center of Biophysics & Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801-3707, USA

    Govindjee

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  1. Thomas D. Sharkey
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Correspondence to Thomas D. Sharkey.

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This paper was read and edited by William Adams and Barbara Demmig-Adams and accepted by Barbara for publication in Photosynthesis Research.

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Sharkey, T.D., Govindjee Hartmut Lichtenthaler: an authority on chloroplast structure and isoprenoid biochemistry. Photosynth Res 128, 117–123 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-015-0211-0

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