Welcome to the PMBB Program

News Highlights

• Dear PMBBers:

  Thursday's lecture in association with the Summer Genomics Workshop will be given by Bob Hettich of Oak Ridge National laboratory. The seminar is at 11 AM on June 24 in 001 Jennings. Bob is a proteomics person who has, among other things, pioneered ways to access the metagenome from various interesting environments. Basically, by performing shotgun proteomics he can tell who is there, what they are doing, and when. His talk is entitled: ""Mass-Spectrometry Based Proteogenomics Approaches for the Molecular Characterization of Microbial Isolates and Communities".

  This technology is applicable to a number of systems. I hope you can make the talk.
  
  Dr. F. Robert Tabita

• 2010 Practical Summer Workshop in Functional Genomics begins Monday June 21.
  Click here for more information and to see who will be speaking during the workshop.

• F. Robert Tabita and colleagues have won a large Department of Energy grant to produce biofuels from microorganisms that assimilate carbon dioxide. Tabita researches the biochemistry and molecular regulation of carbon dioxide fixation in microorganisms that perform much like plants to obtain their needed carbon. In this metabolic engineering project, the team will divert metabolism to biofuels, especially butanol. This will be a joint effort that will take advantage of the expertise and experience of the Tabita group along with scientists at both Battelle Memorial Institute (led by Stephanie A. Smith) and the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at OSU (led by S.-T. Yang) to produce and recover large amounts of butanol from bioreactors containing CO2-fixing microbes. This grant was announced in late April via several press releases such as the one below from Senator Brown's office:

  Brown Announces Nearly $4 Million for Advanced Energy Research at The Ohio State University Joint Venture with Battelle Memorial Institute Could Fundamentally Change How the U.S. Uses and Produces Energy
  
  April 29, 2010
  
  WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced today that Ohio will receive $3,977,349 million in federal funds to invest in programs that lessen our dependence on foreign oil, reduce carbon pollution, and create clean energy jobs across the state. The federal funds were made available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and allocated by the U.S. Department of Energy's recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy ("ARPA-E").
  
  "Clean energy is the future of our nation, but it can also create jobs now - in Ohio," Brown said. "Done right, increased research and development of new clean energy technologies will drive innovation and reduce our dependence on foreign energy. Already in Ohio entrepreneurs and workers are leading the way."
  
  These funds will be used for an industrially scalable bioreactor approach to incorporate genetically engineered bacteria that metabolizes carbon dioxide, oxygen, and hydrogen to produce butanol. The team anticipates at least a twofold productivity improvement over current levels and a cost that can be competitive with gasoline.
  
  "This ARPA-e award will support a team of Ohio State and Battelle researchers who have identified a new method of converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into butanol, using genetically modified biological organisms called chemotropes," said Caroline Whitacre, Vice President for Research at The Ohio State University. This novel approach can create an energy-dense liquid fuel supply without using petroleum, and thus can help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, as well as reducing carbon emissions. This collaborative project between The Ohio State University and Battelle brings the strengths of both organizations together to address one of the globe's most pressing issues."
  
  ARPA-E's mission is to develop nimble, creative and inventive approaches to transform the global energy landscape while advancing America's technology leadership. ARPA-E was created to support high risk, high reward energy research that can provide transformative new solutions for climate change and energy security. In supporting these teams, ARPA-E seeks to bring together America's brightest energy innovators to pioneer a low cost, secure, and low carbon energy future for the nation.

• 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program Application Page

• 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Internship Opportunities

• PMBB Distinguished Seminar Speaker Series [pdf]
  Professor Richard Amasino will give a talk titled "“Vernalization: remembering winter with an environmentally induced epigenetic switch” at 10:00am on Thursday September 24th in room 333 of Kottman Hall. Pizza Lunch with Graduate Students, R. A.'s and Post Docs will follow at 12:00 noon. For further information contact Assoc. Prof. J. C. Jang. 

• New Fellowships Available. Outstanding students are encouraged to apply for the new Excellence in Plant Molecular Biology & Biotechnology Graduate Fellowships. 
  … read more about the fellowships…

• Miguel E. Vega-Sanchez, PhD student supported by an Excellence in Plant Molecular Biology/Biotechnology Fellowship, publishes his research in The Plant Cell.
  ...read more about the Vega-Sanchez article...

• PMBB scientists have cloned a gene that controls the shape of tomatoes. Esther Van der Knaap laboratory work was reported, as the cover article, in the March 14 issue of the journal Science. 
  …read more about the tomato research…

• Eric Grotewald publishes an overview book on the emerging areas in the field of flavonoid research and their applications.
  …read more about the Grotewold book…

• The PMBB Program Chosen for one of OSU’s Targeted Investment in Excellence Initiatives. This will enable new hires and expansion of the research 
  …read more about the TIE award…

• David Somers' Laboratory publication in Nature is rated Exceptional with an F1000 impact factor of 8.2
  ...read more about Dr. Somers' publication...