Biological, physical and mathematical sciences at Michigan State University
A team of researchers led by David Kramer, Hannah Distinguished Professor of Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics, has discovered how to give the plant enzyme ATP synthase increased function so it works during both the daytime and nighttime. The discovery, featured in the current issue of Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, shows that plants evolved [...]
The discovery of a new gene is helping scientists envision more-efficient molecular factories of the future. A team of researchers, led by Katherine Osteryoung, MSU plant biologist, announced the discovery of Clumped Chloroplasts – a new class of proteins – in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. CLMP1 plays a [...]
Stopping the spread of radioactive Uranium and other harmful pollutants can be achieved with the use of protein nanowires produced on the outside of a group of bacteria called Geobacter, scientists at Michigan State University have determined. The nanowires, or pili, are hair-like protein appendages with electrical conductivity and can, by themselves, catalyze the process [...]
The US Department of Energy awarded Thomas Hamann, assistant professor of chemistry, an Early Career Research Award – a five-year award providing support to outstanding researchers during the early years of their careers. Hamann was among 69 scientists selected from 1,150 applicants. His award is for research on “Molecular and Material Approaches to Overcome Kinetic [...]
The US Department of Energy awarded Pengpeng Zhang, assistant professor of physics, an Early Career Research Award – a five-year award providing support to outstanding researchers during the early years of their careers. Zhang was among 67 scientists selected from 1,150 applicants. Zhang’s award will fund research into the use of molecular self-assembly to modify the electrical [...]
Michael Thomashow, director of the Plant Research Lab, has proven that circadian rhythms spark plants’ ability to fend off cold weather. The research was published in the April 6, 2011 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Just as monarch butterflies depend on circadian cues to begin their annual migration, so [...]
Ruby Ghosh, associate professor of physics, has built a dissolved oxygen sensor that provides real-time data and is relatively inexpensive. She and her students built prototypes in the lab and worked with Michigan’s fish farmers to see how the sensor would function in a year-round, outdoor environment. Monitoring oxygen levels in water has applications for [...]
The discovery of a hormone acting like molecular glue could hold a key to bolstering plant immune systems and understanding how plants cope with environmental stress. Professor Gregg Howe recently revealed how the plant hormone jasmonate binds two proteins together to form a receptor – an emerging new concept in hormone biology and protein chemistry. [...]
Professors Gregg Howe and Sheng Yang He published a study in the Oct. 6 issue of Nature revealing how the plant hormone jasmonate binds two proteins together. The study also identifies the receptor’s crystal structure to provide the first molecular view of how plants ward off attacks by insects and pathogens. Read more…
In an article published this week by the journal Science, Professor Christoph Benning and his then-doctoral degree candidate Eric Moellering and technical assistant Bagyalakshmi Muthan describe how a particular gene leads to the formation of a lipid that protects chloroplast and plant cell membranes from freeze damage by a novel mechanism in Arabidopsis thaliana. Read more>>>
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