Projects

Understanding bio-oil aging and competing thermal reactions with the use of continuous in situ NMR and EPR techniques

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Mariefel Olarte

Project type

Exploratory Research

Biomass is the most readily available renewable source of liquid transportation fuel. According to DOE, fast pyrolysis followed by catalytic upgrading is projected to be the most cost effective among…

Understanding and Utilizing Block Copolymer Templates for the Preparation of Bimetallic Catalysts for Fuel Cell Applications

Lead Institution

Western Washington University

Principal Investigator

David Rider

Project type

Exploratory Research

The invention of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) occurred over a half-century ago and, in spite of extensive developments of its science and its components, its widespread…

The role of protein-mineral interactions for protein oxidation and hydrolysis

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Kleber

Project type

Exploratory Research

We intend (1) to establish the molecular range of modifications to protein integrity and protein structure as such protein becomes associated with mineral surfaces and (2) to determine how mechanisms…

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy structure determination of the cobalamin binding protein HgcA required for bacterial mercury methylation

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Alexander Johs

Project type

Exploratory Research

Mercury is a pervasive global pollutant. Its methylated form, methylmercury, poses a substantial threat to human health. Methylation of mercury (Hg) by anaerobic bacteria is the primary source of…

Effect of organic carbon functional groups on the trapping and transformations of U(VI)

Lead Institution

Stanford University

Principal Investigator

Gordon Brown

Project type

Exploratory Research

Understanding the behavior of U(VI) in natural environments is crucial for controlling U contamination from uranium mining and milling activities at DOE legacy sites [1]. Previous studies of U…

Impact of Cholesterol and Some of its Oxidized Derivatives on DPPC in Langmuir Monolayers

Lead Institution

The Ohio State University

Principal Investigator

Heather Allen

Project type

Exploratory Research

The proposed research aims to understand how oxysterols alter the conformation and orientation of lipids in Langmuir monolayers, and how the concentration and chemical modifications of Chol modulate…

Ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry analysis of permafrost soil organic carbon composition and interactions in the Arctic environment

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Baohua Gu

Project type

Exploratory Research

Arctic permafrost soils contain as much organic carbon as was believed to exist in all soils worldwide and are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Yet, the exact chemical form and composition…

High-resolution imaging of Rhodobacter sphaeroides strains with increased lipid accumulation

Lead Institution

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Principal Investigator

Timothy Donohue

Project type

Exploratory Research

We are requesting access to super resolution fluorescence and electron microscopy/imaging facilities at EMSL. We propose to utilize these facilities to obtain molecular and high-resolution insights…

How do temperature and soil organic matter inputs mediate the organic molecular composition of soils?

Lead Institution

University of Oregon

Principal Investigator

Scott Bridgham

Project type

Exploratory Research

The potential release of stored soil carbon under a warming climate will be at least partially dependent on the temperature response of soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization. However, it has…

Detection and quantification of strigolactones in Populus

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jin-Gui Chen

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plant architecture plays a major role in determining photosynthetic light use efficiency and biomass yield. Shoot branching is one of the key determinants of plant architecture. The identification of…

Proteome Response to Arogenate Dehydratase Changes in Arabidopsis and Poplar

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Norman Lewis

Project type

Exploratory Research

Arogenate dehydratases (ADTs) are a class of isoenzymes involved in the production of phenylalanine (Phe). In addition to its involvement in protein biosynthesis, Phe is the starting metabolite in…

Surface-mounted bi-metallic sub-nano clusters as catalysts for endothermic cooling

Lead Institution

University of California, Los Angeles

Principal Investigator

Anastassia Alexandrova

Project type

Exploratory Research

The ultimate objective of the proposed research is understanding and design of novel catalytic surfaces based on sub-nano surface-deposited clusters, with a particular application to hydrogenation/de…

In Situ and Ex Situ Studies of Energy Storage Materials

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Karl Mueller

Project type

Exploratory Research

Innovation of energy storage technology depends critically on the fundamental understanding of the operating mechanism and dynamic interaction across different components in the storage unit. With…

Engineering morphology and secretion to enhance the productivity of fungal fermentations

Lead Institution

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Principal Investigator

Steven Harris

Project type

FICUS Research

Enzymes such as cellulases and amylases play an essential role in the production of biofuels through their ability to convert biomass into fermentable sugars. The primary sources of these enzymes are…

Identification and Regulation of Cellulases within Novel Anaerobic Gut Fungi

Lead Institution

University of California, Santa Barbara

Principal Investigator

Michelle O'Malley

Project type

FICUS Research

Biofuels derived from plant biomass (lignocellulose) are attractive alternatives to petroleum-based products, as they avoid many of the economic and environmental problems that plague traditional…

Functional genomics of moss-cyanobacteria interactions in boreal forest ecosystems

Lead Institution

J. Craig Venter Institute

Principal Investigator

Philip Weyman

Project type

FICUS Research

Boreal forests are important ecosystems involved in global carbon cycling. The nitrogen cycling in these ecosystems is largely determined by feather moss-associated cyanobacteria that fix the…

Development of novel approaches to target microbial drivers of C cycling in soil aggregates

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kirsten Hofmockel

Project type

FICUS Research

We propose to develop approaches that target metabolically active microorganisms and functions that drive carbon cycling in soils from bioenergy cropping systems. Albeit critically important, soil…

Mapping soil carbon from cradle to grave: using comparative transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolite analysis to identify the microbial blueprint for root-enhanced decomposition of organic matter.

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Mary Firestone

Project type

FICUS Research

In this JGI-EMSL project, we will investigate how living roots impact the functional capacity of the detritosphere (litter and surrounding soil) microbiome that is actively mediating decomposition…

Organelles promoting high level terpenoid biosynthesis in filamentous fungi.

Lead Institution

United States Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service Cereal Disease Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Harold Kistler

Project type

FICUS Research

Terpenoid compounds are a promising source of renewable biofuels that have many favorable characteristics such as high energy content and compatibility with existing energy-use technologies. While…

FECB: A Functional Encyclopedia of Cyanobacteria - Building the knowledge framework for an enhanced understanding of carbon and nitrogen cycling

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Matthias Hess

Project type

FICUS Research

There has been a great interest by the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the phylogenetic coverage of genome sequences from across the phyla archaea and bacteria – including cyanobacteria. The…