Projects

Comparative Systems Analysis of Bioenergy Grass Internode Development for Biofuel Production in Marginal Environments

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Andrii Smertenko

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Grass internodes are the primary source of lignocellulosic biomass. However, despite extensive research on internode biology, our ability to model and manipulate the internode growth to improve…

Bacterial 'cell-cell talk' in complex microbial communities: identifying diverse and novel quorum sensing signals in extreme environments

Lead Institution

University of South Carolina

Principal Investigator

Alan Decho

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Microbes communicate using quorum sensing (QS), a type of cell-cell signaling that occurs within and among species of microbes, and even between kingdoms, to synchronize their gene expression and…

Investigation of Organic Matter Interactions at Geologically Relevant Mineral Interfaces and Metal Cations

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Narasimhan Loganathan

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Clays are porous materials with large surface areas that are very abundant in in the earth's crust. Many geochemical processes including environmental transport of naturally occurring and…

Advancing micromodel and imaging capability to detect hotspots in the hyporheic zone

Lead Institution

Boise State University

Principal Investigator

Kevin Roche

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Many microbially-driven reactions in groundwater only occur when dissolved oxygen concentrations are sufficiently low. In shallow, oxygen-rich groundwater systems like the hyporheic zone, microzones…

Mechanisms of soil organic matter stabilization across a phosphorus and land use gradient in carbonate lithologies.

Lead Institution

University of Kentucky

Principal Investigator

Christopher Shepard

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The belowground cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are controlled by complex local soil forming processes, but the relationships between these cycles remain poorly defined. The…

Influence of Adsorbed Organic Acids on Soil Mineral Wettability

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

John Loring

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Soil wettability is dictated by the extent to which hydrophilic mineral surfaces are covered by hydrophobic soil organic carbon (SOC) from bacterial decomposition, decaying plant matter, or root…

Understanding simultaneous lignin depolymerization and catabolism in white-rot fungi

Lead Institution

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Davinia Salvachua Rodriguez

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic polymer found in the cell walls of terrestrial plants and accounts for 30% of the organic carbon in the biosphere. White-rot fungi (WRF) are unquestionably the most…

Analysis of biogeochemical nutrient delivery to the Amazon and Atlantic Ocean from transported smoke and dust

Lead Institution

University of Miami

Principal Investigator

Cassandra Gaston

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Atmospheric particles (e.g., aerosols) deposit key nutrients, such as iron (Fe) and phosphorus (P), to the open ocean and the Amazon Rainforest. These nutrients are important for biological functions…

The origin, occurrence and distribution of water and volatiles in nominally anhydrous minerals

Lead Institution

The Open University

Principal Investigator

Mahesh Anand

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Nominally anhydrous minerals such as olivine and pyroxene constitute most of the major rock forming minerals. As a result, these phases are abundant in crustal and mantle rocks on Earth, as well as…

Understand How Fungi Cell Wall Responds to Hypersaline Environment

Lead Institution

Michigan State University

Principal Investigator

Tuo Wang

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This project aims at understanding the how fungi reconstruct their cell walls at hypersaline environments. The research is underlying Functional and Systems Biology Topic 4 (FSB-4) by using EMSL&#039…

Understanding contributions of agricultural dust to vertical profiles of ice-nucleating particles in the central Great Plains

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Susannah Burrows

Project type

FICUS Research

Agricultural dusts contribute to airborne particulate amount, aerosol optical depth, and atmospheric ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations in agricultural regions. Agricultural dusts include…

Investigating Fog Processing of Aerosol in Amazonia and their Climatic Impacts

Lead Institution

Federal University of Parana

Principal Investigator

Ricardo Godoi

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

This study aims to understand the chemical composition, morphology, and hygroscopicity of fog and cloud biological constituents and how they can affect the fog and cloud process. We hypothesize that…

Manipulating Monocot (Grass) Lignin-forming Dirigent Protein Complexes for Optimal Bioenergy/Bioproducts

Lead Institution

Washington State University

Principal Investigator

Norman Lewis

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The overall objective of this proposal is to establish the (bio)chemical basis as to why monocot (grass) lignocellulosic tissues are significantly less recalcitrant to (bio)degradation than their …

Dinitrogen Activation and Electron and Proton Delivery in the Nitrogenase Complex

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Simone Raugei

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

We are requesting EMSL supercomputing resources to tackle the mechanism of electron and proton delivery to dinitrogen (N2) to yield ammonia (NH3) in the Mo-dependent nitrogenase -- biological…

CO2 activation and conversion by the CODH/ACS enzymatic complex

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Simone Raugei

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The purpose of the proposal is to computationally characterize the key biochemical and biophysical features of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) and acetyl-coenzyme A synthase (ACS) enzymatic…

Contaminant immobilization through heterogeneous carbonate growth at mineral/water and mineral/microbe interfaces

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Sebastien Kerisit

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

The presence of mineral surfaces and microorganisms significantly impacts the nature and composition of mineral phases formed in biogeochemical systems. Despite the importance of these heterogeneous…

A cross-scale modeling framework of organic matter biochemistry in river corridor system: Scaling biogeochemical reaction kinetics from molecular to reach scales

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Peiyuan Gao

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Predicting the decomposition of organic matter in biochemical processes driven by microbes at reach scale remains challenging. These challenges are deeply rooted in the scarcity of rate measurements…

Micro to Macro - Molecular and Spatial Controls on Microbial Function

Lead Institution

Kula Bio, Inc.

Principal Investigator

Darian Smercina

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Establishing a clear and predictable link between the structure and function of soil microbial communities and ecosystem processes remains one of the greatest challenges in soil ecology. Soil…

Investigating Oiliness: Systems Comparison of Photoautotrophic and Heterotrophic Lipid Production in Auxenochlorella protothecoides.

Lead Institution

University of California, Berkeley

Principal Investigator

Jeffrey Moseley

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Auxenochlorella protothecoides is a photosynthetic, Trebouxiophyte alga, with a small, highly compact nuclear genome. Auxenochlorella strains are highly oleaginous, accumulating up to 60% of dry…

Understanding Mechanisms Coupling the Fates of Iron Oxides, Organic Matter, and Micronutrient Metals at Redox Hot Spots

Lead Institution

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Principal Investigator

Kevin Rosso

Project type

Large-Scale EMSL Research

Iron (oxyhydr)oxide minerals are ubiquitous in soils and sediments and play an commanding role in nutrient cycling, microbial metabolism, carbon protection, and contaminant immobilization. Among them…