Chen Jit Ern
Head of Center
Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development
Associate Professor
School of Biological Sciences
Algal Biotechnology and Diversity, Coral-Zooxanthellae Climate Change Mitigation and Experimental Evolution
PhD in Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge; BA in Natural Sciences (Biological), University of Cambridge
Dr. Chen Jit Ern is the Head of the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development and an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at Sunway University at Sunway University. His primary research interest is in the development and utilization of genetic engineering techniques and molecular tools on various microalgae, to study the underlying mechanisms for physiological traits such as lipid accumulation and heat tolerance. His previous Post-Doctoral position was in KAUST, Saudi Arabia, studying the potential for increased heat-tolerance in Zooxanthellae (Symbiodinium microadriaticum), the photosynthetic coral endosymbiont, native to the Red Sea. In the Master in Sustainability Development Management program (MSDM), Dr Chen teaches courses on Earth’s Climate System and on Biodiversity.
His current project in Sunway University is a continuation of this work, with a particular emphasis on the study of heat-activated Zooxanthellae retrotransposons retrotransposons and on experimental evolution of heat-tolerance in microalgae. His other projects include genetic engineering of the model green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for protein production, the effects of algae auxins on the growth profile of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, and monitoring the biodiversity of plants and algae in Bandar Sunway.
He is also in charge of environmental monitoring of the lakes in Bandar Sunway, and advises Sunway Group on their sustainability initiatives
-
- Experimental evolution and retrotransposon-mediated genetic engineering of the coral endosymbiont alga Symbiodinium to develop increased tolerance to higher water temperatures.
- Chloroplast transformation of the model green algae, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
- ASEAN Green Future
- Leong, Y. Y., Platts, M. J., Amran, S., Fun, W. P., Teh, A. K., Fan, A., Low, W. S., Agamutu, P., Chen, J. E., Gopalasamy, R. C. (2021). Options for Decarbonizing Malaysia. United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
- Tan, CY., Dodd, I.C., Chen, J.E. et al. Regulation of algal and cyanobacterial auxin production, physiology, and application in agriculture: an overview. J Appl Phycol 33, 2995–3023 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-021-02475-3
- Marcela Herrera, Shannon G Klein, Sara Campana, Jit Ern Chen, Arun Prasanna, Carlos M Duarte, and Manuel Aranda, (2021). ‘Temperature transcends partner specificity in the symbiosis establishment of a cnidarian’, The ISME Journal, 15 : 141–153.
- Marcela Herrera, Shannon G Klein, Sebastian Schmidt‐Roach, Sara Campana, Maha J Cziesielski, Jit Ern Chen, Carlos M Duarte, and Manuel Aranda, (2020). ‘Unfamiliar partnerships limit cnidarian holobiont acclimation to warming’, Global Change Biology, 26.10 .
- Jit Ern Chen, Adrian C. Barbrook, Guoxin Cui, Christopher J. Howe, Manuel Aranda, (2019)The genetic intractability of Symbiodinium microadriaticum to standard algal transformation methods“, PLoS ONE 14(2): e0211936.
- Isabel C Nimmo, Adrian C Barbrook, Imen Lassadi, Jit Ern Chen, Katrin Geisler, Alison G Smith, Manuel Aranda, Saul Purton, Ross F Waller, R Ellen R Nisbet and Christopher J Howe, (2019). ‘Genetic transformation of the dinoflagellate chloroplast‘, eLife 2019;8:e45292.
- Nils Rädecker, Jit Ern Chen, Claudia Pogoreutz, Marcela Herrera, Manuel Aranda & Christian R. Voolstra, (2019). ‘Nutrient stress arrests tentacle growth in the coral model Aiptasia‘, Symbiosis 78, pp. 61–64.
- Jit Ern Chen, Guoxin Cui, Xin Wang, Yi Jin Liew, Manuel Aranda, (2018). ‘Recent expansion of heat-activated retrotransposons in the coral symbiont Symbiodinium microadriaticum‘, The ISME Journal, Feb;12(2), pp. 639-643.
- Log in to post comments
JEFFREY SACHS CENTER (DU 025 (B))
Sunway University, Malaysia
- No. 5, Jalan Universiti,
Bandar Sunway,
47500 Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia. - Phone: +6 (03) 7491 8622
- Fax: +6 (03) 5635 8630
- Email: jsc@sunway.edu.my
