Projects

Characterizing the ecophysiologies of uncultured syntrophic associations driving anaerobic methane oxidation: applications of targeted meta'omics and multi-modal analytical imaging of diverse archaeal-bacterial consortia

Lead Institution

California Institute of Technology

Principal Investigator

Victoria Orphan

Project type

FICUS Research

The main objective of this work is to combine the molecular, elemental and cryo-electron imaging and metaproteomics available at EMSL with the single cell genomics pipeline at the JGI in a highly…

Observations of Scytonema-colonized and
non-colonized fiber cement roofing shingles.

Lead Institution

Lab/Cor, Inc.

Principal Investigator

Barbara Reine

Project type

Exploratory Research

Fiber cement roofing shingles colonized with Scytonema sp. and other cyanobacteria are failing. One mechanism proposed to explain the observed deterioration is the breakdown of the cementicious…

Systems Analysis of Trophic Transitions in Chromochloris zofingiensis, an Emerging Model Green Alga with Promising Biofuel Potential

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Krishna Niyogi

Project type

FICUS Research

As a core component of a sustainable bio-economy, microalgae have the potential to become a major source of biofuels and bioproducts without exacerbating environmental problems. These photosynthetic…

Biodiversity and ice-nucleating activity of soil and marine airborne microorganisms and relationship to source material

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Susannah Burrows

Project type

FICUS Research

Understanding the nature, sources, and geographic and seasonal distribution of atmospheric ice nucleating particles (INPs), i.e., particles that promote freezing of cloud droplets, is critical to…

Towards a molecular-level understanding of terrestrial organic matter transformations by microbes in a rapidly changing Arctic Ocean

Lead Institution

Concordia University

Principal Investigator

David Walsh

Project type

FICUS Research

The fate of terrestrial organic matter in coastal seas and open oceans is not well understood. This is especially true in the Arctic Ocean, which is one of the largest depositories of terrestrial…

Revealing the Molecular Interactions in Phototroph-Heterotroph Co-Cultures for Bioenergy Through Development of an In Silico Platform for Design and Discovery

Lead Institution

Johns Hopkins University

Principal Investigator

Michael Betenbaugh

Project type

FICUS Research

Lichens are nature's solar cells, harnessing energy from sunlight and converting it along with CO2 into biochemicals. They achieve this goal through a complex web of interactions between a…

Single particle analysis of smoke aerosols during the Summer 2002 Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study

Lead Institution

Colorado State University

Principal Investigator

Jenny Hand

Project type

Exploratory Research

The role of smoke aerosols from biomass burning in visibility degradation is poorly understood because few studies exist that have fully characterized their physical, optical, chemical and…

From phenotype to genotype and back again: large scale functional characterization of microbial dark matter by combining activity-based cell sorting, isotope labeling, and genomic sequencing

Lead Institution

Montana State University

Principal Investigator

Roland Hatzenpichler

Project type

FICUS Research

Two long-standing problems in microbial ecology are: (1) identifying the factors driving metabolic activity of microbes in their natural environment and (2) determining the substrates that are…

Identifying and applying design rules to engineer polyketide synthases for production of biofuels and bioproducts

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Jay Keasling

Project type

FICUS Research

Polyketide synthases (PKSs) produce numerous secondary metabolites in soil dwelling bacteria. For over two decades, researchers have known that portions of these enzymes can be recombined to produce…

Microbial membrane features and metabolic pathways in deep fractured shale systems

Lead Institution

University of New Hampshire

Principal Investigator

Paula Mouser

Project type

Exploratory Research

Humans are currently engineering the deep subsurface at unprecedented scales for the purposes of energy-capture technologies, energy-storage capabilities, and environmental mitigation strategies. To…

Intercellular Vesicular Communication in Plants

Lead Institution

Rice University

Principal Investigator

Janet Braam

Project type

Exploratory Research

Exosomes are powerful vehicles for local, distal and even transpecies cell-to-cell communication in diverse eukaryotes, but whether plant extracellular vesicles can act similarly to exosomes…

Soil organic phosphorus: speciation, abundance, and ecosystem implications in a changing climate

Lead Institution

University of California, Merced

Principal Investigator

Asmeret Berhe

Project type

Exploratory Research

Soil organic phosphorus (P) has been identified as a pivotal component of bioavailable P, especially in late stages of ecosystem development. Organic P turnover rate is affected by the stabilization…

Experimental validation of a central carbon metabolic model in Aspergillus niger to enable metabolic engineering of this fungal cell factory

Lead Institution

Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute

Principal Investigator

Ronald de Vries

Project type

Exploratory Research

Sugar conversion through central carbon catabolism in filamentous fungi is a complex progress that involves many pathways. During growth on plant biomass, multiple 5- and 6-carbon monomeric sugars…

Understanding ice nucleating particles associated with agricultural soils

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Susannah Burrows

Project type

Exploratory Research

The atmospheric concentration of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) impacts the formation and development of cloud ice crystals, affecting cloud radiative properties and precipitation. However,…

Tracking substrate uptake and mRNA expression of aerobic methane-producing bacteria in pelagic waters of Yellowstone Lake

Lead Institution

Montana State University

Principal Investigator

Tim McDermott

Project type

Exploratory Research

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and understanding its sources and sinks is a core goal of the EMSL and DOE mission. Biological methane production is traditionally viewed as a process that can only…

Computational Studies of Nanoparticle Formation Leading to Mineralization and ab initio Thermodynamics Studies of Minerals

Lead Institution

University of Alabama

Principal Investigator

David Dixon

Project type

Exploratory Research

There is a critical need to develop an understanding of nanoparticle and mineral formation in systems that contain H2O, metal ions and CO2 as carbonation and hydrolysis reactions are important for…

Reactivity of Soil Organic Carbon with Minerals under Low Water Conditions

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Loring

Project type

Exploratory Research

The manner in which soil organic carbon (SOC) binds to and reacts with mineral surfaces affects SOC (bio)degradation, SOC mobility, soil wettability, mineral dissolution, and the bioavailability of…

Multiscale modelling of nanomorphology of large macro- and biomolecules in complex solutions to study biologically important energy harvesting systems

Lead Institution

National Research Council Canada

Principal Investigator

Sergey Gusarov

Project type

Exploratory Research

In this proposal, we aim a systematic computational investigation of the nanomorphology of organic macromolecules and biomolecules in a complex environment to model biologically important energy…

Proteogenomics to Discover Principles Regulating Metabolic Networks in Oleagenous Green Algae.

Lead Institution

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Principal Investigator

Juergen Polle

Project type

Exploratory Research

During the last decade a variety of oleaginous green algae (Chlorophyta) have emerged as potential platforms for feedstock production in biofuels applications. For example, multiple strains of the…

Photo-oxidative stress response in Chlamydomonas: Regulation of singlet oxygen acclimation through dynamic changes in intracellular phosphorylation and extracellular signaling

Lead Institution

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Setsuko Wakao

Project type

Exploratory Research

Growth of photosynthetic organisms depends on light energy, which in excess causes oxidative damage if not managed properly. Singlet oxygen (1O2) is a highly toxic form of ROS that is predominantly…