Institute for Molecular Bioscience

Dr Melanie Oey

Research Fellow
Institute for Molecular Bioscience
+61 7 334 62010
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Researcher biography

Dr. Melanie Oey is currently Research Officer at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience in the Group of Prof. Ben Hankamer. She was born in Berlin, Germany, and went to the University of Potsdam to study Biochemistry. During her studies she worked at the Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm, Germany, where she also received her Ph.D. in 2009 for her work on the production of lysin antibiotics in tobacco plants. In the same year she came to Australia to work at the University of Queensland, and has since then developed new technologies which are base for the newly launched "Breakthrough Science Program in Algal Biomedicine" at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience.

Her research interestes are:

- High value product production (e.g. vaccines, antibiotics, pain killer) in Algae via chloroplast and nuclear transformation

- Improvement of bio-hydrogen production from microalgae

- Development of new molecular tools for microalgae

Her work has been funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Featured projects Duration
Antibiotic production: Lysins in microalgae
Aquaculture therapeutics in microalgae
Monoclonal antibody production in microalgae
Microalgae based burn therapeutics
Scaling up recombinant protein production in microalgae

Publications

Book Chapter (1)
Journal Articles (13)
Conference Papers (3)
Patent (1)

Book Chapter

Stephens, Evan, Wolf, Juliane, Oey, Melanie, Zhang, Eugene, Hankamer, Ben and Ross, Ian L. (2015). Genetic engineering for microalgae strain improvement in relation to biocrude production systems. Biomass and biofuels from microalgae: advances in engineering and biology. (pp. 191-249) edited by Navid R. Moheimani, Mark P. McHenry, Karne de Boer and Parisa A. Bahri. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-16640-7_11

Journal Articles

Ross, Ian L, Le, Hong Phuong, Budiman, Sabar, Xiong, Dake, Hemker, Fritz, Millen, Elizabeth A, Oey, Melanie and Hankamer, Ben (2024). A cyclical marker system enables indefinite series of oligonucleotide-directed gene editing in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Physiology. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiae427
Carrera-Pacheco, Saskya E., Hankamer, Ben and Oey, Melanie (2023). Environmental and nuclear influences on microalgal chloroplast gene expression. Trends in Plant Science, 28 (8), 955-967. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.03.013
Carrera-Pacheco, Saskya E., Hankamer, Ben and Oey, Melanie (2020). Light and heat-shock mediated TDA1 overexpression as a tool for controlled high-yield recombinant protein production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplasts. Algal Research, 48 101921, 1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2020.101921
Yarnold, Jennifer, Karan, Hakan, Oey, Melanie and Hankamer, Ben (2019). Microalgal aquafeeds as part of a circular bioeconomy. Trends in Plant Science, 24 (10), 959-970. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2019.06.005
Karan, Hakan, Funk, Christiane, Grabert, Martin, Oey, Melanie and Hankamer, Ben (2019). Green bioplastics as part of a circular bioeconomy. Trends in Plant Science, 24 (3), 237-249. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.11.010
Carrera Pacheco, Saskya E., Hankamer, Ben and Oey, Melanie (2018). Optimising light conditions increases recombinant protein production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii chloroplasts. Algal Research, 32, 329-340. doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2018.04.011
Oey, Melanie, Sawyer, Anne Linda, Ross, Ian Lawrence and Hankamer, Ben (2016). Challenges and opportunities for hydrogen production from microalgae. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 14 (7), 1487-1499. doi: 10.1111/pbi.12516
Jakob, Gisela, Stephens, Evan, Feller, Rafael, Oey, Melanie, Hankamer, Ben and Ross, Ian L. (2016). Triggered exocytosis of the protozoan Tetrahymena as a source of bioflocculation and a controllable dewatering method for efficient harvest of microalgal cultures. Algal Research, 13, 148-158. doi: 10.1016/j.algal.2015.11.011
Ross, Ian L., Oey, Melanie, Stephens, Evan and Hankamer, Ben (2016). Prospects for photobiological hydrogen as a renewable energy. Current Biotechnology, 5, 1-19. doi: 10.2174/2211550105666160308202919
Oey, Melanie, Ross, Ian L. and Hankamer, Ben (2014). Gateway-assisted vector construction to facilitate expression of foreign proteins in the chloroplast of single celled algae. PloS One, 9 (2) e86841, e86841. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086841
Oey, Melanie, Ross, Ian L., Stephens, Evan, Steinbeck, Janina, Wolf, Juliane, Radzun, Khairul Adzfa, Kuegler, Johannes, Ringsmuth, Andrew K., Kruse, Olaf and Hankamer, Ben (2013). RNAi Knock-Down of LHCBM1, 2 and 3 Increases Photosynthetic H-2 Production Efficiency of the Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. PLoS One, 8 (4) e61375, e61375.1-e61375.12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061375
Oey, Melanie, Lohse, Marc, Scharff, Lars B., Kreikemeyer, Bernd and Bock, Ralph (2009). Plastid production of protein antibiotics against pneumonia via a new strategy for high-level expression of antimicrobial proteins. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106 (16), 6579-6584. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0813146106
Oey, Melanie, Lohse, Marc, Kreikemeyer, Bernd and Bock, Ralph (2008). Exhaustion of the chloroplast protein synthesis capacity by massive expression of a highly stable protein antibiotic. Plant Journal, 57 (3), 436-445. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03702.x

Conference Papers

Oey, Melanie (2008). Chloroplasts as bioreactors for the high-yield production of an active bacteriolytic protein antibiotic. 14th International Conference for Renewable Resources and Plant Biotechnology, Magdeburg, Germany, 8-10 June 2008.
Oey, Melanie (2008). Expression of superbug killers in chloroplasts. PBD symposium: "The Plant as Bioreactor", Aarhus, Denmark, 24 November, 2008.
Oey, Melanie (2008). High efficient synthesis in chloroplasts of a protein antibiotic active against human pathogenic bacteria. 4th European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) Conference: “Plants for Life”, Toulon (Côte d’Azur), France, 22-26 June 2008.

Patent

Oey, M., Ross, I. L. and Hankamer, B. (2013). Microorganism mutants and method of use. AU2013900645.