Christoph Benning

Christoph Benning (born 1960) is a German–American plant biologist. He is an MSU Foundation Professor and University Distinguished Professor at

Benning was born in Soest, Germany, in 1960.^[1] He completed his Master of Science degree at the University of Freiburg before moving to North America for his PhD at Michigan State University (MSU).^[2] During his time at the University of Freiburg, Benning received a 10-month international travel fellowship from the German Scholarship Foundation.^[3]

Career

Following his PhD, Benning remained in Michigan while his wife Susanne Hoffmann–Benning finished her PhD work with Hans Kende. In 1993, he accepted a leadership position at the Institute for Gene Biology Research in Germany before moving back to MSU as an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1998.^[3]

Benning has been working for over 30 years^[3] on different aspects of lipid metabolism in photosynthetic organisms.^[4] His laboratory at MSU discovered and studies proteins involved in the biosynthesis of polar lipids of the photosynthetic membrane,^[5][6][7][8] the exchange of membrane lipid precursors between the endoplasmic reticulum, the chloroplast envelope membranes and the respective contact sites,^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]} and proteins involved in lipid remodeling as adaption to abiotic stresses.^{[19][20][21][22][23]} Benning’s lab discovered a transcription factor governing the biosynthesis of storage lipids in plant embryos and used it for biotechnological applications.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29][30]} His lab has also applied genomic and genetic approaches to identify key regulatory factors and enzymes required for triacylglycerol biosynthesis, lipid droplet formation and lipid turnover in the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.^{[31][32][33][34][35][36]} He coordinated the sequencing and publication of the first Nannochloropsis oceanica genome and he and his collaborators developed synthetic biology tools for this microalga and explored its biotechnological potential.^{[37][38][39][40][41][42][43]}

Benning's research into lipid metabolism in plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria, led him to be named