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A214A Life Sciences
Georgia Power Distinguished Professor of Biotechnology Dr. Ljungdahl's research concerns the enzymology of the net formation of acetate from carbon dioxide via a newly discovered autotrophic pathway involving folate and vitamin B12 and the biochemistry and physiology of new types of anaerobic fungi and thermophilic bacteria capable of degrading biopolymers such as starch and cellulose. Current research projects include catalytic roles of iron, selenium and tungsten in formate dehydrogenase, the role of nickel in carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, characterization of active sites of folate- and B12-requiring enzymes involved in acetate synthesis, the generation of energy in autotrophic acetogens and the characterization of cellulolytic enzyme systems of anaerobic microorganisms. Dr. Ljungdahl received a von Humboldt Award from the German government (1974-75) for advanced study at the University of Göttingen and an award from the Swedish government for advanced study at the Swedish Forestry Products Research laboratory (1982-83). He was elected foreign member of the Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1987. He has been Editor-In-Chief for Applied and Environmental Microbiology for 10 years. He served on an NIH study section in Microbial Physiology and has research support from DOE. Clostridium ljungdahlii was named after him as a recognition of his studies of acetogens and clostridia in 1993. He received the Lamar Dodd Award, given at the University of Georgia for outstanding body of scholarly or creative activities in the sciences in 1994. He was elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 1994 and elected Fellow of the American Association of Advancement of Science in 1995. Full Publications: 167 |