Projects

The role of structural and solvation dynamics of matrix proteins on apatite mineralization

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jinhui Tao

Project type

Exploratory Research

Our goal is to identify the spatial distributions, solvent and structural dynamics of matrix proteins (such as amelogenin, collagen) with joint ultrahigh spatial resolution as well as structural…

Machine Learning Assisted Classification of Ca-Organic Matter Complexation Using X-ray Spectroscopies

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Niranjan Govind

Project type

Exploratory Research

Soils and sediments host large stores of organic carbon, which can be released to the atmosphere upon mineralization. Ca has the potential to play a key role in preventing mineralization of this…

Rhodospirillum rubrum metabolic state during conversion of CO2 to ethylene

Lead Institution

The Ohio State University

Principal Investigator

Justin North

Project type

Exploratory Research

Ethylene (C2H4) is an essential plant hormone and is the chemical building block for nearly all plastics, detergents, and coolants. More ethylene is synthesized than any other industrial compound (…

Does microbial consumption of plant litter produce diverse pools of dissolved organic matter?

Lead Institution

Cornell University

Principal Investigator

Johannes Lehmann

Project type

Exploratory Research

Microbial consumption and transformation of plant litter is becoming a widely recognized control on soil organic matter (SOM) persistence. Although the reasons for the increased resiliency of…

Acquiring highly resolved root images of a cereal introgression line with enhanced root growth, and performance under low nitrogen stress by X-ray Computed Tomography

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Diane Beckles

Project type

Exploratory Research

The aim of this work is to obtain unambiguous data on the root specific architecture of a wheat introgression line 99 that has greater below ground biomass, and outperforms the cultivated parental…

Novel X-ray Interferometry Imaging of Plant Root Systems

Lead Institution

Louisiana State University

Principal Investigator

Joyoni Dey

Project type

Exploratory Research

Plants have mechanisms to overcome abiotic and biotic stresses. One of the main plant parts to adjust to available resources for growth are roots. Observing the changes in distribution of roots (RSA)…

Exploring oxalate metabolism and C transfer in bacterial-fungal interactions in the context of a soil carbon-storing biogeochemical process

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Patrick Chain

Project type

Exploratory Research

Bacterial-fungal interactions (BFI) in the rhizosphere impart a myriad of beneficial functions to plant and soil health as well as play important roles in biogeochemical cycling in soils. However,…

Vertical distribution of Phase State of Aerosol Particles at the Southern Great Plains

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Fan Mei

Project type

Exploratory Research

Organic aerosol particles contribute significantly to the total atmospheric fine particle mass. Depending on the nature of particles (e.g., source, chemical composition) and environmental factors (e…

Microbial control of mineral-bound carbon

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Marie Kroeger

Project type

Exploratory Research

The formation of organo-mineral complexes, particularly in the deep soil horizons is a key process in the long-term stabilization and therefore persistence of carbon in soils. However, there is…

Understanding Carbon Use Efficiency in Soil Ecosystems Using Metabolomics, Lipidomics, Protein Digests and Metabolic Modeling

Lead Institution

Northern Arizona University

Principal Investigator

Paul Dijkstra

Project type

Exploratory Research

The efficiency with which organic compounds are used to produce microbial biomass is an important variable in modeling soil C cycling. This efficiency, called C use efficiency or CUE, is often…

Chemical nano-imaging of ice nucleating particles for understanding heterogeneous ice formation in atmospheric clouds

Lead Institution

Colgate University

Principal Investigator

Eric Muller

Project type

Exploratory Research

Ice nucleation in atmospheric clouds can determine the phase of water in the clouds and affect the radiative properties, lifetime and precipitation behavior. While pure water droplets can remain…

Probing Iron Oxide Mineral Aggregation Behavior with Soil Organic Matters

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Xin Zhang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The goal of this project is to develop a fundamental understanding of iron oxide nanoparticle (NPs) aggregation mechanisms with soil organic matters (SOM). Heteroaggregation is a ubiquitous but…

Deciphering controls on metal migration within floodplains: The critical role of redox environments on metal-organic complexes

Lead Institution

Stanford University

Principal Investigator

Scott Fendorf

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a major but poorly understood control over the mobility of micronutrient and contaminant metals in surface and subsurface systems. Variations in the chemical…

Sticky Roots -- Implications of Altered Rhizodeposition for the Fate of Mineral-associated Organic Matter in Natural Ecosystems

Lead Institution

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Principal Investigator

Marco Keiluweit

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed research aims to improve mechanistic understanding of links among rhizodeposition of reactive organic compounds by plant roots, microbial activity, and the stability of mineral…

Carbon signaling cascades that enable the carbohydrate-selective plant biomass degradation by brown rot fungi

Lead Institution

University of Minnesota

Principal Investigator

Jiwei Zhang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Fungi are dominant microbes for carbon turnover of plant biomass in terrestrial systems. Some of them, namely brown rot fungi, evolved more efficient mechanisms than others, causing the fast…

Keystone mutualisms: understanding the role of fungi in organizing soil bacterial food webs

Lead Institution

Stanford University

Principal Investigator

Kabir Peay

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The goal of our project is to create a predictive understanding of how fungi structure soil bacterial foodwebs. We will do this through an experiment designed around what is one of the fundamental…

Multiscale analysis to explore the molecular landscape of Sorghum bicolor stem over time and space

Lead Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Principal Investigator

Amy Marshall-Colon

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Sorghum bicolor is an important bioenergy crop because it has high nutrient and water use efficiency, and produces a large quantity of biomass that can be processed into ethanol for biofuels. Many…

Multi-watershed perturbation-response traits derived through ecological theory

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

James Stegen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This project will transform our ability to understand and predict how the influences of biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments on surface-subsurface systems are altered by disturbance. New theory…

Past is Prologue: Ancient Glass Analogues for the Long-Term Disposal of Vitrified Nuclear Waste

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Carolyn Pearce

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbes are ubiquitous in the terrestrial surface and have mastered the art of establishing equilibrium in their localized environment. Samples obtained during an excavation of Broborg, an ancient…

Why is Arctic tundra soil respiration carbon limited at low temperatures?

Lead Institution

University of Toledo

Principal Investigator

Michael Weintraub

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil microbial communities are active during much of the long Arctic winter, despite low temperatures, so overwinter microbial activity is important to global carbon (C) budgets. C-rich Arctic soils…