Personal information

Liu Jin

Professor / Director, Algae Innovation Engineering Research Center

Email: gjinliu@ncu.edu.cn

Room C603, Environmental Building, No. 999 Xuefu Avenue, Honggutan District, Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, P. R. China

Educational Background

Aug. 2006 – Jul. 2010 Ph.D. in Biotechnology, The University of Hong Kong

Sep. 2003 – Jul. 2005 M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Sun Yat-sen University

Sep. 1999 – Jul. 2003 B.Sc. in Biology, Sun Yat-sen University

Work Experience

Aug. 2023 – Present School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Nanchang UniversityAug. 2015 – Jul. 2023 College of Engineering, Peking UniversityNov. 2012 – Jul. 2015 University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, USAMay 2011 – Oct. 2012 Arizona State University, USAAug. 2010 – Apr. 2011 School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong

Academic and Social Affiliations

· Associate Editor, Algal Research

· Associate Editor (Section Editor), Frontiers in Marine Science

· Editorial Board Member, The Innovation Life, Advanced Biotechnology, Frontiers in Plant Science

Research Fields

· Photosynthetic Carbon Fixation and Metabolism in Microalgae

· Synthetic Biology

· Resource Utilization of Microalgae

Research Overview

Long committed to basic and applied research on algae and microbial resources as well as environmental issues using cutting-edge interdisciplinary technologies.Has published more than 60 papers in top-tier journals of the field, including New Phytologist, Plant Physiology, Molecular Plant, The Plant Journal, Metabolic Engineering, Biotechnology for Biofuels, Bioresource Technology, with an H-index of 40.Has successively presided over multiple projects such as projects under the National Key R&D Program and General Programs of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, with a total funding of over 10 million RMB.

Courses Taught

· Bioenergy and Biological Resources

· Microalgal Biotechnology

Awards and Honors

· Boya Young Scholar, Peking University

· Person of the Year, Science in China (2018)

· World’s Top 2% Scientists (Single Year Scientific Impact Ranking, 2020–2022)

Representative Publications

1. Ding W, Ye Y, Yu L, Liu M, Liu J*. Physiochemical and molecular responses of the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to illumination transitions. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. 2023; 16: 103.

2. Liu M, Ding W, Pan Y, Hu H, Liu J*. Zeaxanthin epoxidase is involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis and light-dependent growth of the marine alga Nannochloropsis oceanica. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts. 2023; 16: 74.

3. Shi M, Yu L, Shi J, Liu J*. A conserved MYB transcription factor is involved in regulating lipid metabolic pathways for oil biosynthesis in green algae. New Phytologist. 2022; 235: 576-594.

4. Bai F, Yu L, Shi J, Li-Beisson Y, Liu J*. Long-chain acyl-CoA synthetases activate fatty acids for lipid synthesis, remodeling and energy production in Chlamydomonas. New Phytologist. 2022; 233: 823-837.

5. Liu J*, Liu M, Shi Y, Pan Y, Hu H. Metabolic engineering of the oleaginous alga Nannochloropsis for enriching eicosapentaenoic acid in triacylglycerol by combined pulling and pushing strategies. Metabolic Engineering. 2022; 69: 163-174.

6. Ding W, Liu J*. Rutin Stimulates the green alga Chromochloris zofingiensis for improved biomass and astaxanthin production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2022; 70: 13626–13636.

7. Yang J#, Liu J#, Pan Y, Maréchal E, Amato A, Liu M, Gong Y, Li Y, Hu H*. PDAT regulates PE as transient carbon sink alternative to triacylglycerol in Nannochloropsis. Plant Physiology. 2022; 189: 1345–1362.

8. Wu T, Yu L, Zhang Y, Liu J*. Characterization of fatty acid desaturases reveals stress-induced synthesis of C18 unsaturated fatty acids enriched in triacylglycerol in the oleaginous alga Chromochloris zofingiensis. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 2021;14: 184.

9. Zhang Y, Ye Y, Bai F, Liu J*. The oleaginous astaxanthin-producing alga Chromochloris zofingiensis: potential from production to an emerging model for studying lipid metabolism and carotenogenesis. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 2021; 14: 119.

10. Zhang Y#, Pan Y#, Ding W, Hu H, Liu J*. Lipid production is more than doubled by manipulating a diacylglycerol acyltransferase in algae. GCB Bioenergy. 2021; 13: 185–200.

11. Shi Y, Liu M, Pan Y, Hu H, Liu J*. Δ6 fatty acid elongase is involved in eicosapentaenoic acid biosynthesis via the ω6 pathway in the marine alga Nannochloropsis oceanica. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2021; 69: 9837−9848.

12. Zhang Y, Ye Y, Ding W, Mao X, Li Y, Gerken H, Liu J*. Astaxanthin is ketolated from zeaxanthin independent of fatty acid synthesis in Chromochloris zofingiensis. Plant Physiology. 2020; 183: 883-897.

13. Wu T, Fu Y, Shi Y, Li Y, Kou Y, Mao X, Liu J*. Functional characterization of long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase gene family from the oleaginous alga Chromochloris zofingiensis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2020; 68: 4473-4484.

14. Shi Y, Liu M, Ding W, Liu J*. Novel insights into phosphorus deprivation-boosted lipid synthesis in the marine alga Nannochloropsis oceanica without compromising biomass production. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2020; 68: 11488–11502.

15. Mao X#, Zhang Y#, Wang X#, Liu J*. Novel insights into salinity-induced lipogenesis and carotenogenesis in the oleaginous astaxanthin-producing alga Chromochloris zofingiensis: a multi-omics study. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 2020; 13: 73.

16. Zhang Y, Shi M, Mao X, Kou Y, Liu J*. Time-resolved carotenoid profiling and transcriptomic analysis reveal mechanism of carotenogenesis for astaxanthin synthesis in the oleaginous green alga Chromochloris zofingiensis. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 2019; 12: 287.

17. Wang X, Wei H, Mao X, Liu J*. Proteomics analysis of lipid droplets from the oleaginous alga Chromochloris zofingiensis reveals novel proteins for lipid metabolism. Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics. 2019; 17: 260-272.

18. Sun Z, Zhang Y, Sun L-p, Liu J*. Light elicits astaxanthin biosynthesis and accumulation in the fermented ultrahigh-density Chlorella zofingiensis. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 2019; 67: 5579–5586.

19. Mao X, Wu T, Kou Y, Shi Y, Zhang Y, Liu J*. Characterization of type I and type II diacylglycerol acyltransferases from the emerging model alga Chlorella zofingiensis reveals their functional complementarity and engineering potential. Biotechnology for Biofuels. 2019; 12: 28.

20. Liu J*, Sun Z, Mao X, Gerken H, Wang X, Yang W. Multiomics analysis reveals distinct mechanism of oleaginousness in the emerging model alga Chromochloris zofingiensis. The Plant Journal. 2019; 98: 1060–1077.