PRL in Pictures: 2023
Beating the heat: Exploring algae's ability to thrive in extreme environments
Found in acidic volcanic hot springs, the extremophilic alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae contains a unique process that allows them to survive in extreme environments. Researchers, led by graduate student Anne Steensma from the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL), are looking at this process and its potential to change how we understand the ways photosynthetic organisms adapt to environmental challenges like high temperatures.
Photo by Kara Headley
Plants in Space: Seeding a Sustainable Future
The moon holds answers, and Michigan State University plant biologists are bringing those answers within reach. Patience, creativity and a cheerful fearlessness are turning insights buried in plant seeds into pathways to the very survival of the human race. Pictured above are graduate student Joanne Thomson and MSU Foundation Professor Federica Brandizzi.
Photo by Harley J. Seeley
read the full story on page 10
read an extended interview with Joanne Thomson
PRL members bring plant research to the MSU Science Festival
Three groups from the PRL participated in the 2023 MSU Science Festival. The Community Building and Outreach Committee (CBOC), the Vermaas lab and the Sharkey lab volunteered to bring PRL science to the public at the university’s annual festival. Left to right, Daipayan Sarkar, Deserah Strand, Huijia Gong, Liana Acevedo Siaca, Max Harman and Jinjie Liu.
Photo by Kara Headley
2023 Anton Lang Memorial Award winners announced
Graduate student Hannah Parks and postdoctoral researcher María Santos Merino have been awarded the 2023 Anton Lang Memorial Awards at a ceremony which took place on Monday, April 24, 2023. This year’s lecture was given by University Distinguished Professor Thomas D. Sharkey from MSU. Left to right: Christoph Benning, María Santos Merino, Hannah Parks and Tom Sharkey.
Photo by Kara Headley
Rising Scholars: PRL undergraduate students showcase research at 2023 UURAF
Undergraduate researchers from six PRL groups participated in the 2023 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF), three taking home first-place awards for their poster presentations. Pictured is undergraduate İlayda Korkmaz from the Benning presenting research, “Heterologous production of proteins involved in chloroplast lipid metabolism to determine phosphatidic acid phosphatase activity.”
Photo by Dave Trumpie
Unlocking solar-powered secrets: DOE renews grant for photosynthesis research at MSU
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded the Michigan State University-Department of Energy (MSU-DOE) Plant Research Laboratory a $12 million DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences competitive renewal grant to continue research in photosynthetic energy capture, conversion and storage. Pictured left to right: undergraduate Sam Hu, PRL director Christoph Benning and postdoc Yosia Mugume.
Photo by Kara Headley
Cultivating young minds: MSU plant scientists give back to the community
The PRL Community Building and Outreach Committee (CBOC) participated in the inaugural MSU Detroit Early Honors Experience, a collaboration between Detroit Public Schools Community District and several departments at MSU. The day PRL participated in was focused on teaching Detroit high schoolers plant science concepts and research techniques out in the field.
Photo by Jinjie Liu
Growth and regrowth: What happens to switchgrass when food reserves are depleted?
As potential for biofuel, switchgrass is a perennial plant that is of great interest to researchers. Scientists from the PRL Walker lab are looking at how these plants regrow, even when regrowing with less than its usual carbon storage. Postdoc Mauricio Tejera-Nieves uses a LICOR instrument to measure the rate of photosynthesis in switchgrass.
Photo by Kara Headley
Discovering the secrets of plant defense
Michigan State University scientists have illuminated one piece of this puzzle that helps understand how plants limit pathogen growth. The researchers have discovered that a protein known as TGNap1 plays a key role in transporting antimicrobial proteins out of plant cells. Postdoctoral researcher Deepak Bhandari injects an Arabidopsis plant with a bacterial pathogen to study its immune response.
Photo by Kara Headley
Leah Johnson receives the 2023 Kende award
Leah Johnson is the 2023 recipient of the Kende Award, which acknowledges the best doctoral dissertation in plant sciences at Michigan State University over the last two years. Leah Johnson (center) with her Ph.D. advisor Gregg Howe (left) and the director of the Plant Research Laboratory, Christoph Benning (right).
Photo by Kara Headley
Increasing sorghum’s biomass by manipulating the cell wall
In a study published in The Plant Journal, researchers looked at the complex regulation of the storage of cell wall mixed-linkage glucan, or MLG, in sorghum, a crop that’s a promising biofuel feedstock. MLG is a component of the cell wall that is believed to have several biological functions, but its precise role during the vegetative growth of plants is not understood well. Sang-Jin Kim, an assistant professor at the PRL, inspects sorghum in the greenhouse.
Photo by Kara Headley
