Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler (born 20 June 1934 in Weinheim, Germany) is a German botanist, plant physiologist and university professor.
Life
Hartmut Lichtenthaler studied pharmacy, biology and chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe (TH). In 1958, he completed his studies with the pharmaceutical state examination in Germany ('Staatsexamen'). In 1961, he earned his Ph.D. at the University of Heidelberg with a dissertation about vitamin K1 in plants at the institute of Professor August Seybold. In the period 1962–1964, he was a research fellow at the laboratory of Nobel laureate Melvin Calvin at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1964, he became an assistant professor at the University of Münster, where he completed his Habilitation in 1967 with a thesis about prenylquinones and osmiophilic plastoglobuli in chloroplasts. In 1970, he became a full professor for plant physiology, plant biochemistry and pharmaceutical biology at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. Lichtenthaler developed his institute to a research center for photosynthesis, isoprenoid biochemistry and fluorescence imaging. In 2001, he became professor emeritus.
Work Lichtenthaler’s research fields are the photosynthesis of green plants, the light adaptation, pigment composition, photosynthetic function and ultrastructure of chloroplasts, the regulation of the plants’ isoprenoid biosynthesis, as well as the laser-induced fluorescence imaging of photosynthetic activity and of stress-detection in plants. He is known for establishing the non-mevalonate deoxyxylulose-phosphate / methylerythritol phosphate pathway (DOXP / MEP pathway) of isoprenoid biosynthesis in chloroplasts. The latter, which is responsible for the biosynthesis of carotenoids, prenyl-quinones, isoprene, mono- and diterpenes was detected in the 1990s (via 13C-labelling + NMR-spectroscopy) in close cooperation with Michel Rohmer. Lichtenthaler also showed that the DOXP/MEP-pathway not only occurs in all photosynthetic organisms (plants, algae, photosynthetic bacteria), but also in pathogenic bacteria und the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. He developed a plant-based test-system to find new drugs against malaria. Lichtenthaler's scientific activities yielded 6 books and more than 410 publications in scientific journals. He was guest professor at the University of Gothenburg (1975) and University of Lancaster (1981). He promoted international scientific collaboration, organized many conferences and workshops and promoted young scientists. In 1978, Lichtenthaler was a co-founder of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Physiology (FESPP), and he acted from 1984 to 1986 as FESPP president. In 1988, he managed that – despite initial obstructions by the political authorities – the East European researchers from Russia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and East-Germany could become members of the European federation FESPP. Lichtenthaler also described the history and development of botanical co-operations, such as FESPP, and that of international symposia series and workshops in plant physiology and plant biochemistry.
Honors and awards Hartmut Lichtenthaler received multiple honors and awards, including among others
1992: Honorary member of the Hungarian Society of Plant Physiology 1996: Honorary doctorate (Dr. h.c.) Mendel University of Brno, Czech Republic 1997: Honorary doctorate (Dr. h.c.) and honorary professor (Prof. h.c.), Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 2001: Honorary doctorate (Dr. h.c.) of Szent István University, Gödöllö, Hungary. 2001: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande) 2003: Gregor J. Mendel Honorary Medal for Merits in Bio-Sciences (conferred by the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague) 2004: Terry-Galliard-Medal for Merits in Plant Lipid Biochemistry 2010: Corresponding Membership Award of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) 2015: Lifetime Achievement Award (LTA-Award) for Photosynthesis of the Rebeiz Foundation, Champaign, USA 2017: Honorary membership of the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG)
Publications Lichtenthaler has about 420 publications (original papers, reviews) in international scientific journals and books, including:
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