Projects

Visualizing Manganese Biomineralization by the Mnx Protein Complex within the Exosporium of Mn-oxidizing Bacillus species

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Bradley Tebo

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbial production of manganese oxide minerals is a globally important biomineralization process that drives the manganese cycle in the environment. This cycle supports life through the manganese…

Manipulating chloroplast metabolism by controlling ferredoxin dependent electron distribution

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Daniela Strenkert

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant type Ferredoxins (Fds) are small soluble electron carriers within the chloroplast of photosynthetic eukaryotes. During oxygenic photosynthesis, linear electron flow (LEF) collects electrons…

Developing an Automated Smart Method for Searching the Configurational Space of Micronutrients in Host Minerals, Proteins, and Soils

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Eugene Ilton

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

In prior EMSL supported work we developed an ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) approach to interpret the EXAFS signal of impurities/micronutrients in the structure of Fe(oxyhydroxide) host minerals…

Elucidating the Ice Formation and Transformation Pathways in Aerosols at Atomic Resolution

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jingshan Du

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Ice formation and transformation in aerosols are critical in defining atmospheric processes and human activities. Despite efforts to study ice formation using macro- and micro-scale approaches,…

How do wildfire severity and post-fire precipitation influence fate and transport of pyrogenic organic carbon and nitrogen in terrestrial-aquatic interfaces?

Lead Institution

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Principal Investigator

Alex Chow

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Wildfire significantly changes the composition and quantity of forest biomass, converting lignin and polysaccharide rich and relatively degradable carbon pools to polycyclic aromatic and charcoal…

The Influence of Particle Phase State on the Growth Kinetics of Secondary Organic Aerosols

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Rahul Zaveri

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to investigate the influences of particle phase state and possible phase separation on the growth kinetics of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formed from oxidation of selected…

Understanding the impact of drought on native cell wall nanoarchitecture of engineered plants via multi-dimensional solid-state NMR and cryo-TEM.

Lead Institution

University of Adelaide

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Mortimer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant biomass (essentially the cell wall) is the carbon source that will underpin a sustainable bioeconomy. Drought can severely affect plant growth and reduces crop yield and quality, and is a…

Investigating the Role of Drought-Impacted Root Exudates on Rhizosphere Microbial Metabolism and Viral Dynamics for Improving Tall Wheatgrass Drought Tolerance

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sneha Couvillion

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The rhizosphere is the center of interactions between roots, soil, and microbes, where chemical exchanges are key drivers of microbial composition, plant productivity, and resilience to abiotic…

Investigating evolutionary constraints on carbon fixation by Ribulose-1,6-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco)

Lead Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Principal Investigator

Steven Burgess

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Rubisco catalyzes the fixation of CO2 and is the primary site of entry for carbon into the biosphere. The enzyme is slow and subject to competitive inhibition by oxygen. The oxygenation reaction…

Understanding structure-function relationship in enzymes by designing artificial enzymes

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Bojana Ginovska

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to study how the protein environment affects functionality by designing an artificial enzyme. We will investigate the artificial enzyme Rh-LmrR which comprises an Rh-based molecular…

Exploring gas migration and diffusion pathways in CODH/ACS using molecular simulations

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Simone Raugei

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

In the coming decade, our planet is going to face several environmental and energy related problems which directly relate to the biological fixation of carbon dioxide CO2 into organic carbon which…

Nitrogen Fixation by Nitrogenase

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Simone Raugei

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The bacterial catalyst for N2 fixation is a multi-subunit metalloenzyme comprising two electron carrier Fe proteins and the MoFe protein core. This complex catalyzes the reduction of N2 to NH3 and H2…

Elucidating the effects of root responses to moderate soil nutrient limitation on mineral bioweathering processes

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Jean-Thomas Cornelis

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The excessive use of mineral fertilizer has become a critical contributor to global environmental issues. To control the environmental impacts of agricultural expansion, we need a significant…

Cellular controls on carbon source-sink dynamics in deglaciated soils

Lead Institution

McGill University

Principal Investigator

Lyle Whyte

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

When glaciers in polar regions recede because of ongoing climate change, they expose large new areas of nutrient-poor soil. These “pioneer soils,” which have been trapped under the ice and devoid of…

Understanding Product Selectivity of Monoterpene Synthases Using Atomistic Simulations

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Hoshin Kim

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Monoterpene synthases (MTSs) catalyze the biosynthesis of monoterpenes, which play a pivotal role in plant-plant communications as well as key ingredients for many industrial applications including…

Atomistic Simulations of the Discriminatory Power of Desaturase

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Marcel Baer

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to use EMSL supercomputing resources to gain a molecular level understanding of how substrate binding, electron, and proton delivery are controlled by the desaturase metalloenzyme…

Towards Aerosol-Ice Formation Closure – Chemical Imaging Investigation of Aerosol and Ice Nucleating Particles

Lead Institution

State University of New York at Stony Brook

Principal Investigator

Daniel Knopf

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Prediction of ice nucleating particle (INP) number concentrations from ambient aerosol particles represents an urgent and challenging issue when simulating cloud processes in climate models. A recent…

Deciphering plant-plant, plant-microbe, and plant-soil interactions driving biological invasion in a southwestern desert grassland

Lead Institution

University of Arizona

Principal Investigator

Malak Tfaily

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant invasion is a major component of global change, leading to environmental transformations that alter ecosystem services and associated biogeochemical cycles. The overarching goal of this project…

Deciphering the structure and function of the last unknown major plant organelle - Plasmodesma

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Michael Knoblauch

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant tissues exhibit a symplasmic organization; the individual protoplasts are connected to their neighbors via cytoplasmic bridges that extend through pores in the cell walls. These bridges may…

Molecular controls of microbial nitrogen use efficiency in agricultural soils

Lead Institution

United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service

Principal Investigator

Amisha Poret-Peterson

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) reflects the partitioning of organic N taken up between N incorporation into microbial biomass (growth) and N recycled to the environment as inorganic N …