News

Whole-molecule carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) enable assessments of plant carbon uptake yet conceal information about carbon allocation.

It’s estimated that by 2050, the global population could reach 9 billion. With limited natural resources, feeding, clothing and providing materials to support that many people will be challenging. In Federica Brandizzi’s lab at Michigan State University, she and her colleagues are finding ways to make plants part of the solution.

James Santiago, postdoc in the Sharkey lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) has accepted a new position as a R&D plant physiologist at Soli Organic, a culinary herb company based in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

MSU scientists have developed a new gene discovery method that is helping them to understand how plants recover from stressful situations in their environments.

Professor Jianping Hu has been appointed as the new director of the Molecular Plant Sciences (MPS) Graduate Program at Michigan State University.

A structure that helps algae photosynthesize when carbon dioxide levels are low may also play a role during hyperoxia conditions.

A new study from the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) shows how some algae can protect themselves when the oxygen they produce impairs their photosynthetic activity. The discovery also answers a long-standing question about how algae survive when CO2 levels are low.

Using innovative methodologies that combine biology and statistics, researchers from the Kramer lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) observe the ways plants respond to their natural environments.

Three Michigan State University College of Natural Science (NatSci) researchers are among nine MSU faculty members recognized in the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers list, an annual compilation of the global leaders in scientific influence by Clarivate Analytics.

Jingcheng Huang is the 2021 recipient of the Kende Award, which acknowledges the best doctoral dissertation in plant sciences at Michigan State University (MSU) over the last two years.

An international team of scientists, including Michigan State University researchers, believe they may have found a molecular mechanism behind the extremely rare blood clots linked to adenovirus COVID-19 vaccines.

Improving the photosynthetic power-plants in crops could mean using less fossil fuel derived energy supplements in crop cultivation and lead to a second Green Revolution, a new life-cycle assessment (LCA) from the Walker lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL), finds.

Eleven Michigan State University researchers have been recognized in the 2021 Highly Cited Researchers List compiled by Clarivate Analytics.

For the first time in two years, the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) community gathered to share the exciting research  conducted by the different groups at the 2021 PRL Retreat.

Researchers are integrating their work into undergraduate cell and molecular biology laboratory courses at Michigan State University through the use of Arabidopsis mutant screenings.

Guiding undergraduates pursuing STEM degrees has been a hallmark of the Michigan State University College of Natural Science (NatSci), with numerous faculty and graduate students recognized yearly for their significant contributions to undergraduate education through mentoring and guidance.

MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory (PRL) scientists have published a new study that furthers our understanding of how plants make membranes in chloroplasts, the photosynthesis powerhouse.

James Santiago, a postdoc in Tom Sharkey’s lab was awarded an internal grant of $88,000 from the PRI for research on heat-sensitivity in tomato anthers and pollen grains using single cell RNA-sequencing.

MSU plant molecular biologist Michael Thomashow’s research has always been fueled by a pretty simple question: How the heck does that work?

Two undergraduate students from Dr. Josh Vermaas’s lab have been awarded funding for their computational research this fall.

The Molecular Plant Sciences Monday seminar series is kicking off the 2021-2022 school year with presentations by plant scientists from institutions all over the world.

Dr. Anne Rea, former postdoc in Jianping Hu’s lab at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, accepted a position as assistant professor of cell biology at Maryville College in Tennessee.

My name is Kara Headley, and I am the new communications manager for the DOE-MSU Plant Research Laboratory and the Molecular Plant Sciences program. I am very much looking forward to diving into this role and this community.

Four Michigan State University College of Natural Science faculty members – Federica Brandizzi, Joseph S. Krajcik, Robert L. Last, and Kenneth M. Merz, were among 11 MSU faculty members named University Distinguished Professors this year by the MSU Board of Trustees in honor of their achievements in research, teaching and mentoring, and community engagement.

The Prize recognizes postdoctoral researchers’, “outstanding contributions to plant biology, based on initiative and originality of the research, productivity, and leadership.” In addition, Dr. Xu, a member of the Benning lab, has accepted a tenure-track assistant professorship at the University of Guelph in Canada.

A new AI system, called DeepLearnMOR, can identify organelles and classify hundreds of microscopy images in a matter of seconds and with an accuracy rate of over 97%. The study illustrates the potential of AI to significantly increase the scope, speed, and accuracy of screening tools in plant biology.

The study reports that the activity levels of the carbon metabolism protein, G6PDH, are related to decreased production of pollen in bean flowers. As global temperatures rise, some bean crops, including Michigan-grown varieties, might be more sensitive to higher heat levels.

Kaylie Barton, a recently graduated undergraduate student in the lab of Federica Brandizzi, has won first prize at the 2021 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. Kaylie was recognized for her poster presentation in the Plant Sciences category.

Evan Angelos and Hainan Zhao were recognized during a ceremony which took place online on Monday, April 19, 2021. The Anton Lang Memorial Fund was established in honor of the founding director of the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, who passed away in 1996.

The NRT program at Michigan State University, funded by the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship program, trains doctoral students in applying computational data science approaches to solving problems in plant biology.

Berkley Walker is leading a new, nearly $1 million National Science Foundation grant effort to better understand photorespiration, a natural process that saps plants’ productivity.

Two metabolic pathways introduced into cyanobacteria increase its photosynthesis performance and provide partial protection from negative effects of excess light absorption.

A new study from Michigan State University is shedding light on how plants could potentially become more efficient at photosynthesis. The long-term implications of this research range from improved agricultural productivity to predicting the effects of climate change.

Josh Vermaas, the newest addition to the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory faculty body, has begun his assistant professorship this month. Josh is a computational biophysicist whose research interests include developing computational models to better understand membrane processes and plant materials.