Manfred Focke

Personal Data:

Year of Birth: 1960

Military service: 1978-1979

Education and Qualification:

1979-1985 study of biology at the University of Karlsruhe
1985-1990 Ph.D. thesis in the group of Prof. H.K. Lichtenthaler, University of Karlsruhe

Employment:

Botanical Institute, Plant Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of Karlsruhe
since 1992 Academic Council (“ Akademischer Rat”)
since 1998 Academic Senior Council (“Akademischer Oberrat)

Duties and responsibilities:

Supervision of Ph.D. students and “Diplomanden”,
organisation of practical courses,
administration matters,
radiation safety commissioner,
teaching of laboratory assistents (“Biologie-Laboranten-Auszubildene”)

Memberships:

American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB)
Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft (German Botanical Society)
Federation of the European Societies of Plant Biology (FESPB)
Gesellschaft für Biochemie und Molekularbiologie (German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology)

Research Visit:

July-October 1997 and 1998 at Prof. J.B. Ohlrogge’s Lab, Michigan State University, Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, East Lansing, USA

Areas of interest

Characterization of DNA-repair enzymes,
lipid biochemistry,
plant metabolism

Current projects

Expression of DNA-repair enzymes (helicases, nucleases) from plant origin in heterologous hosts (bacteria, insect cells),
Description of the enzymatic properties of DNA-repair enzymes,
Description of the quaternary structure of DNA-repair enzymes (protein complexes),
In vitro-translation of proteins,
Isolation of plant nuclei

Recent publications

Bao, X., Focke, M., Pollard, M., Ohlrogge, J., Understanding in vivo carbon precursor supply for fatty acid synthesis in leaf tissue. Plant J. 22(1), 39-50 (2000)
Focke, M., Gieringer, E., Schwan, S., Jänsch, L., Binder, S., Braun, H.-P., Fatty acid biosynthesis in mitochondria of grasses: malonyl-CoA is generated by a mitochondrial-localized acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase. Plant Physiol. 133, 875-884 (2003)