Euglena: Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology

Steven D. Schwartzbach is a Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Memphis.  He was introduced to the fascinating world of  Euglena while completing his Ph. D thesis under the direction of the late Dr. Jerome A. Schiff.  For the past forty years, first at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and more recently at the University of Memphis, his laboratory has explored the cell and molecular biology of Euglena.  The focus of this research has been nuclear chloroplast genome interactions, regulation of gene expression, organelle biogenesis and protein trafficking to the Euglena plastid.  His Euglena research has led to brief flirtations in the fields of immunology and parasitology.  He has published over 80 journal articles, book chapters and reviews.  Shigeru Shigeoka is Professor, Department of Advanced Bioscience, and Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Kindai University, Japan.  He is presidents of The Vitamin Society of Japan (2013~2017) and Euglena Research Association of Japan (2006~).  He completed his PhD thesis Metabolism and physiological function of L-ascorbic acid in Euglena gracilis z supported by the late professor Shozaburo Kitaoka in 1980.  Thereafter, his research has primarily been aimed at understanding the biochemical and molecular basis of responses against environmental stresses and photosynthetic carbon metabolism in plant and algal cells, with more recent work focusing on improving growth and environmental stress tolerance of plant and algal cells by molecular engineering.  To date, he has authored and co-authored over 270 technical articles, which include peer-reviewed journal, international patents, and book chapters.  He has won several prestigious awards which include Award of the Vitamin Society of Japan(2004) and the Japan Bioscience, Biotechnology and Agrochemistry Society Award (2013).