Projects | Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Composition and adsorption mechanism of metabolites produced by roots of different hemp varieties grown in a synthetic soil habitat

Lead Institution

Utah State University

Principal Investigator

Idowu Atoloye

Project type

Exploratory Research

Understanding the interactions between plant organic molecules and soil minerals is critical in biogeochemical processes. The adsorptive behavior of metabolites on soil mineral surfaces can be…

Modeling microbial community metabolic interactions in hypersaline ecosystems

Lead Institution

Duke University

Principal Investigator

Amy Schmid

Project type

Exploratory Research

The proposed research will test the hypothesis that hypersaline microbial communities interact to maintain stability despite changes in salinity and nutrient availability. Hypersaline-adapted Archaea…

Stoichiometry changes to photosynthetic structures in algae in response to environmental stimuli and genetic engineering

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Sabeeha Merchant

Project type

Exploratory Research

Photosynthesis is essential for all life on Earth, with the photosynthetic electron transfer chain and the Calvin-Benson cycle being the key molecular machineries assimilating inorganic carbon with…

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…

Investigating the Effect of Negative Arm Protein Conformations on the Circadian Post-Transcriptional Regulation of Cellulases.

Lead Institution

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Principal Investigator

Jennifer Hurley

Project type

FICUS Research

Biofuel production using cellulases extracted from fungi has the potential to be a major resource to replace fossil fuels. Regulating the synthesis of these and other enzymes is crucial for the…

Novel AI approach to unravel complex protein folding landscapes: towards better bioeconomy

Lead Institution

Chalmers University of Technology

Principal Investigator

Pernilla E L Wittung-Stafshede

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Many proteins, especially enzymes, need to bind metal ion cofactors, or gain other posttranslational modifications (PTM), to be active. None of these processes are static; protein structures are…

Vertically and Size-Resolved Chemical Speciation of Aqueously Processed Organic Aerosols

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Allen Goldstein

Project type

FICUS Research

This proposal focuses on improving process-level understanding and model representation of 1) aerosol-cloud interactions and 2) aerosol processes affecting cloud lifecycle, properties, and/or…

Developing the proteome network regulating structure and function of root-development of switchgrass on marginal lands

Lead Institution

Tennessee State University

Principal Investigator

Suping Zhou

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Abstract: Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a leading biomass perrenial grass native to the United States. Switchgrass plants are known for tolerance of poor soil conditions, mainly due to its…

Uncovering dynamic changes in metabolism and signaling across cell types in the Sorghum bicolor stem using multiomics

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…

Transformations of organic coatings in light-absorbing aerosols released by biomass burning, and associated impacts on the interactions with clouds

Lead Institution

Michigan Technological University

Principal Investigator

Claudio Mazzoleni

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We propose to employ the unique analytical capabilities at EMSL to study samples collected during ongoing ASR DOE-funded projects. The goal is to study the interactions of black carbon-containing…

Single Particle Characterization for Interpreting Ice Nucleating Particle Measurements in the SAIL Field Study

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Paul Demott

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Ice formation in clouds is a process that is still not fully understood, yet critically affects precipitation, cloud lifetime, and the radiation balance. Mixed-phase clouds in the Western U.S…

Illuminating emergent properties underlying complex carbon degradation within communities of soil microorganisms

Lead Institution

University of Pittsburgh

Principal Investigator

Erik Wright

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil microorganisms play a key role in the global carbon cycle by degrading the complex carbon molecules comprising plant litter and cell detritus. This provides a critical ecosystem service by…

Probing Atmospheric Nanoplastics: An Unrecognized Urban Source of Airborne Particles

Lead Institution

Purdue University

Principal Investigator

Alexander Laskin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

fragments of microplastic or larger plastic debris discharged into terrestrial and aquatic environments, while atmospheric occurrence of EnvNP is solely attributed to aerosolization by wind and other…

The thiol redox proteome dynamics in Arabidopsis thaliana in response to light

Lead Institution

Universidad de Sevilla

Principal Investigator

Francisco Javier Cejudo

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Plant performance relies on regulatory mechanisms that allow the rapid adaptation of their metabolism to light, the key stimulus for growth and development of photosynthetic organisms. Thus, dark…

Unraveling the biochemical and metabolic networks controlling bacterial cellulose biosynthesis

Lead Institution

University of Kentucky

Principal Investigator

Kendall Corbin

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Synthetic biology is a rapidly evolving field that uses novel engineering approaches to enhance the capabilities of organisms. Cellulose producing bacteria with commercial value, such as many in the…

Computational Mechanistic Studies of Methyl-coenzyme M Reductase Enzyme

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Bojana Ginovska

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Methane is the second most abundant greenhouse gas after CO2, which accounts for 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and it is by far the largest constituent of natural gas deposits. Methyl…

Identification of Individual Particle Chemical Composition, Morphology, and Ice Nucleation Properties in the Arctic

Lead Institution

University of Michigan

Principal Investigator

Kerri Pratt

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The proposed project will address critical gaps in our understanding of the Arctic aerosol chemical composition, mixing state, sources, and ice nucleation properties through chemical imaging and ice…

Mass-spectral 'fingerprinting' of technical and native lignin substrates for improved biological funneling and enzyme discovery

Lead Institution

University of British Columbia

Principal Investigator

Steven Hallam

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lignin, composed of phenylpropanoid monomers connected by C-C and C-O-C (β-O-4 ether) bonds is the most energy dense polymer in lignocellulosic biomass and a potentially valuable source of aromatic…

Structural and functional dissection of a cell cycle chromatin switch in green algae

Lead Institution

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Principal Investigator

James Umen

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The long-term goal of this project is to understand the dynamic genetic programming which underlies cell growth and proliferation in green algae. This project addresses a long-standing enigma of how…