Research Interests

• Biological H₂ production from renewable resources

• Syngas fermentation to hydrocarbon biofuels

• Pathway engineering, regulations, and systems biology

• Enzyme catalysis and mechanisms

• Bioreactor development

Affiliated Research Programs

• Fermentative H₂ production (PI)

• Photobiological H₂ production (PI)

• Biosystems design and synthetic biology (PI)

• Consolidated bioprocessing to hydrocarbon biofuels (PI)

• Electron bifurcation and catalysis (co-PI)

• Syngas fermentation (co-PI)

Areas of Expertise

• Microbial strains development

  • Rubrivivax, Synechocystis, Clostridium, Ralstonia

• Biological H₂ production

  • Nitrogenase-mediated pathways

  • Hydrogenase-mediated pathways

  • Metabolic pathways, regulations, systems biology

• Syngas fermentation

  • CO dehydrogenase, hydrogenase, kinetics, regulations

  • Regulations, energy conservation

• Electron bifurcation and catalysis

  • Bifurcation catalysis and mechanism

  • Electron transfer network

• Synthetic biology

  • Biosystems design principles for ethylene production

• Bioreactors development

  • Syngas and lignocellulose fermentation

Education

• M.S., Computer Information Systems, University of Denver, 2000

• M.S., Microbiology, Indiana State University, 1976

• B.S., Botany, National Taiwan University, 1974

Professional Experience

• Principal Group Manager, Photobiology Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 2013–Present

• Principal Scientist and Section Supervisor, NREL, 2007–2013

• Detailee, U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, 2006–2007

• Senior Scientist, NREL, 1997–2007

• Staff Scientist, NREL, 1991–1997

• Associate Scientist, NREL, 1981–1991

• Research Specialist, University of California at Berkeley, 1976–1981

Patents

1. "Biological production of organic compounds," U.S. Patent No. US2013/0203136 A1 (2013)

2. "Photoconversion of gasified organic materials into biologically-degradable plastics," U.S. Patent No. 5250427 (1993); International Patent number WO 94/00559 (1994)

Featured Publications

1. "Genome Annotation Provides Insight into Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Metabolism in Rubrivivax gelatinosus," PLOS ONE (2014)

2. "Engineered xylose utilization enhances bio-products productivity in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803," Metabolic Engineering. (2015)

Additional Publications

1. "The plasticity of cyanobacterial metabolism supports direct CO₂ conversion to ethylene," Nature Plants (2015)

2. "Comparison of transcriptional profiles of Clostridium thermocellum grown on cellobiose and pretreated yellow poplar using RNA-Seq," Front Microbiol. (2014)

3. "Genome annotation provides insights into carbon monoxide and hydrogen metabolism in Rubrivivax gelatinosus," PLOS ONE (2014)

4. "Ethylene-forming enzyme and bioethylene production," Biotech. Biofuels (2014)

5. "Sustained photosynthetic conversion of CO₂ to ethylene in recombinant cyanobacterium Synechocystis 6803," Energy Environ. Sci. (2015)

6. "Genetic analysis of the Hox hydrogenase in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 reveals subunit roles in association, assembly, maturation, and function," J. Biol. Chem. (2012)

7. "Heterologous expression of Alteromonas macleodii and Thiocapsa reseopersicina [NiFe] hydrogenases in Synechococcus elongatus," PLOS One (2011)

8. "The role of the bidirectional hydrogenase in cyanobacteria," Bioresour. Technol. (2011)

9. "Characterization of genes responsible for the CO-linked hydrogen production pathway in Rubrivivax gelatinosus," Appl. Environ. Microbiol. (2010)

View all NREL Publications for Pin-Ching Maness.

Awards and Honors

U.S. Department of Energy Merit Award (2015)

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Please contact me with research questions, ideas for collaboration, and proposal solicitations. Please do NOT contact me directly for jobs—see instead information on NREL's Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship program or on NREL Careers in general.