On July 8, 2016, Professor Wolfgang Gärtner from Max Planck Institute for Chemistry visited the department of Biology in SUSTech for academic exchanges upon the invitation of lecturer Wei Zhiyiof our Department of Biology, and carried out an academic lecture entitled Biological Photoreceptors – Principles of Function and Biotechnological Applications.

As a well-known photobiology expert and associate editor of the international journal Photochem.Photobiol, Wolfgang Gärtner has long been engaged in photobiology and optogenetics research, and has over 200 essays published on internationally renowned magazines such as Nature, PNAS, Angew, Chem. Intl, Ed, J. Am. Chem. Soc. and JBC, etc.

In this lecture, Professor Gärtner introduced the structures and functions of several biological photoreceptor proteins and explained in simple terms how the light regulates the life process. First he specified the mechanism and research progress of classic phytochrome and cyanobacterial phytochrome; then he introduced how to use fluorescence properties of light receptor to design new fluorescent probes, and how to use the absorption characteristics of optical state transfer to regulate the functions of downstream structural domains. Finally, the professor mentioned the current hot-spot optogenetics research, and how to use these biological photoreceptor proteins to design new light-dependent cell behavior.

Our teachers and classmates listened attentively to the lecture and got a comprehensive understanding for photobiology through heated discussion. At the end of the lecture, the professor also shared with us his feelings and experiences of doing research and introduced the scientific research status and postgraduate education in Germany.