Projects

Examining the drivers of mineral weathering in humid to semiarid landscapes

Lead Institution

University of California, Davis

Principal Investigator

Rebecca Lybrand

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Mycorrhizae, the symbiotic relationships between plant roots and fungi, are the primary suppliers of growth-limiting nutrients to plants and the main transporters of carbon from plants to soils…

Uncovering microbial mechanisms to improve duckweed growth from biofuel/bioproduct production and nutrient cycling in aquatic envitonments

Lead Institution

University of Tennessee

Principal Investigator

Sarah Lebeis

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

While several mechanisms utilized by beneficial microbes associated with terrestrial plants have been characterized, less is known about how microbes affect aquatic plant growth. We hypothesized that…

Nitrogen Fixation by Endophytes of Populus

Lead Institution

University of Washington

Principal Investigator

Sharon Doty

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

To improve the environmental and economic sustainability of biomass production, it is essential that the biological interactions between plants and associated beneficial microbiota be more fully…

Linking soil microbial community traits to the soil storage potential of dissolved organic carbon from surface plant litter

Lead Institution

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Dunbar

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The ground is an enormous reservoir of organic carbon (1,2). The concentration and residence time of carbon in soil varies with depth (1). The largest concentration of carbon is at the surface…

Growth of and contaminant incorporation in complex carbonate coatings at mineral/water interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sebastien Kerisit

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

All realistic mineral surfaces in natural waters can be expected to be coated, and their reactive properties influenced by the presence of coatings. It is a common but challenging interfacial process…

Proteomic view of the iron deficiency response in Dunaliella

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Sabeeha Merchant

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Algae are responsible for half of global primary productivity and have an important role in biogeochemical cycling. Algae can thrive in nutrient-rich and nutrient-depleted environments, indicating…

Unraveling the catabolism of lignin-derived compounds in white-rot fungi

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Davinia Salvachua Rodriguez

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

White rot fungi (WRF) are the most efficient organisms for the depolymerization and mineralization of lignin to CO2 and H2O in Nature and thus, WRF play a pivotal role in carbon cycling. Lignin…

Spatiotemporal dynamics of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) during host colonization by mycorrhizal symbionts

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Wellington Muchero

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Innate host immunity poses a fundamental challenge in the utilization of beneficial microbes for the sequestration of carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, and its fixation into economically…

The proteome and metabolome of OSER, cellular factories promoting high level terpene synthesis in filamentous fungi.

Lead Institution

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

Principal Investigator

Harold Kistler

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Terpene 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…

The role of phyllosilicate minerals in mediating the temperature sensitivity of enzymatic activity in soil organic matter transformations

Lead Institution

Oregon State University

Principal Investigator

Markus Kleber

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The underlying idea of this proposal is the assumption that temperature sensitivity in multiple component systems can be expressed by a non-linear combination of two component systems. Our main…

Proteomic analysis of formaldehyde toxicity and engineered formaldehyde utilization in Methylobacterium extorquens

Lead Institution

University of Idaho

Principal Investigator

Christopher Marx

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Methylotrophy involves the production of formaldehyde, a highly toxic metabolite, as an intermediate. It is critical to understand how cells sense and respond to formaldehyde levels, as well as the…

Aerosol properties and processes in remote marine environment

Lead Institution

Washington University in St. Louis

Principal Investigator

Jian Wang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

With their extensive coverage, marine low clouds greatly impact Earth's climate. The response of marine low clouds to changes in atmospheric aerosols remains a major source of uncertainty in…

The effect of trace element content on the rate of biotic and abiotic pyrite oxidation

Lead Institution

University of California, Riverside

Principal Investigator

Timothy Lyons

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The oxidation of pyrite is a common source of toxic trace elements and acid generation in many contaminated systems. A key component in understanding the potential threat to ecosystems and possible…

Key Roles of Relativity in Hg Biogeochemical Transformations

Lead Institution

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jerry Parks

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element that is interconverted among various chemical forms and transported throughout the environment through both biotic and abiotic processes. Mercury can be methylated by…

Influence of rhizosphere processes on biogeochemical cycles governing metal contaminant mobility in floodplains

Lead Institution

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Principal Investigator

Kristin Boye

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Floodplains are important repositories for metals, regulating their transport to surface and groundwater. The heterogeneous lithology and seasonal wet-dry cycling associated with alluvial deposits,…

Oxidation of lead sulfide surfaces in the presence of phosphate: nanoparticle formation.

Lead Institution

Georgia Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Andrew Stack

Project type

Exploratory Research

The understanding of galena (PbS) oxidation in the presence of phosphate containing solutions is important because lead contaminated soils and mine wastes are often treated with phosphate as a…

TEM and SEM investigation of non-pathogenic bacterial cultures.

Lead Institution

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Alice Dohnalkova

Project type

Exploratory Research

Trasmission and scanning electron microscopy is a key element in investigations of the morphology and reduction products that occur during exposure of bacteria to various experimental environments…

Variable temperature XRD studies of Ge/SiO2/Si system

Lead Institution

Motorola

Principal Investigator

Yong Liang

Project type

Exploratory Research

This user proposal focuses on using the variable temperature X-ray diffraction capability in EMSL to investigate temperature dependent lattice parameters of a semiconductor system. Specifically, we…

Investigating the carbon cycling implications of changing microbial leaf litter decomposition across a permafrost thaw gradient.

Lead Institution

University of Arizona

Principal Investigator

Scott Saleska

Project type

FICUS Research

Thawing arctic permafrost (which contains 30-50% of global soil carbon) is expected to drive substantial alterations to carbon (C) cycling that will accelerate climate change. As permafrost thaws,…

Detecting Seismically-Sustained Deep Subsurface CH4-cycling Chemolithoautotrophic Microbial Communities Using Multi-Omic Analyses and NanoSIMS

Lead Institution

Princeton University

Principal Investigator

Tullis Onstott

Project type

FICUS Research

The specific objective of the proposed JGI/EMSL project is to document the microbial ecosystem of an active fault zone at 3.5 to 3.6 kilometers depth in South Africa. More specifically, the goal is…