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 [...]
Disruptions in the power grid following the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan has caused routine power outages and made scientific research difficult for plant scientists who rely upon uninterrupted refrigeration, growth incubators, sequencers and other complex equipment. The community of plant scientists at Michigan State engaged their network of collaborators in Japan, and extended [...]
David M. Kramer, Hannah Professor of Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics, studies how plants convert light energy into substances usable by life through photosynthesis. He works with both plants and algae to understand how improving the efficiency of photosynthesis could be applied to bioenergy, and his work includes energy processes at the molecular and the physiological [...]
An investiture ceremony on April 21 officially recognized two endowed faculty in the areas of biochemistry and plant biology: David M. Kramer, the Hannah Professor of Photosynthesis and Bioenergetics, and Robert L. Last, the Barnett Rosenberg Chair of Biochemistry.
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 [...]
The American Association for the Advancement of Science has named four CNS faculty members as AAAS Fellows: William Hartmann, professor of physics and astronomy, Katherine Osteryoung, professor of plant biology, Bradley Sherrill, University Distinguished Professor of physics and astronomy, Michael Thomashow, University Distinguished Professor of molecular genetics. A total of six MSU faculty earned the recognition. [...]
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…
There is a small, unassuming plant in the mustard family – thale cress – that grows in Europe and Asia and has been cultured in the International Space Station. Better known as Arabidopsis thaliana, or just Arabidopsis, it is one of the most studied plants in the world. At MSU, it plays a central role [...]
Beronda Montgomery, assistant professor in the Plant Research Lab and the Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has received a $765,249 NSF grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The grant will assist research into how plant tissues differ at the molecular and biochemical levels in responses to light. Read more about [...]
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