On April 29, 2021, Berkeley Lab hosted a second workshop to identify the most pressing barriers to wider adoption of single-cell sequencing and omics technologies, and to discuss solutions to remedy those barriers in order to drive discovery. The workshop report is now available for download.
Finding the Missing Step of an Important Molecular Process
Lysine is an important amino acid that must be supplied in our diets, as our bodies can’t produce lysine on their own. Most cereal grains have low levels of lysine, and scientists have worked to breed crops with higher lysine levels.
However, the biochemical processes that break down lysine in plants weren’t fully understood. New Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) research, published in Nature Communications, reveals this last missing step of lysine catabolism.
Reorganized EGSB Structure Includes New Department, New Leadership
Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology (EGSB) Division Director N. Louise Glass has announced several changes to the organization and leadership of the division, effective May 1.
New EGSB Leadership Announced
N. Louise Glass, director of the Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology (EGSB) Division, announced new leadership as of October 1, 2018. Changes were implemented to diversify perspectives and ideas within the management of the Division. Ben Brown and Henrik Scheller have agreed to take on positions as Division co-deputies for science; Tanja Woyke and Chris Mungall will now serve as department heads of Functional Genomics and Molecular Ecosystems Biology, respectively.
New Science Study Provides Further Insight Into Plant Cell Division
Biosciences Postdoctoral Researcher Estelle Schaefer was the lead author of a new study on plant cell division orientation released by Science on April XX. The study developed while Schaefer was affiliated with the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) in France and provides further insight into the actual mechanics of cell division in plants.
One phase of the cell division cycle is called mitosis, which is when replicated chromosomes are separated into two new nuclei. Mitosis occurs in several steps and in plants includes preprophase. Schaefer’s work focused on the preprophase band of microtubules, intracellular structures responsible for various movements within cells, and showed that this band controls the robustness of cell division orientation and consequent plant development.
Since completing her PhD three years ago, Schaefer has worked in the field of cell wall biosynthesis with Henrik Scheller (Environmental Genomics & Systems Biology Division) at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). She will soon transition to the DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI) where she will work with John Vogel to study the interactions between Brachypodium roots and microbes of the rhizosphere.
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