An international team of scientists is getting closer to discovering how plants split water during photosynthesis and produce nearly all of the oxygen in our atmosphere. Thanks to unprecedented, atomic-scale images of a protein complex found in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria captured by ultrafast X-ray lasers, researchers conducted atomic-level experiments to help delineate the mechanism of this system that also yields the protons and electrons used to reduce carbon dioxide to carbohydrates later in the photosynthesis cycle. The effort to uncover the secrets of this protein complex, photosystem II, was led by Vittal Yachandra and Junko Yano in the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division and the team’s findings were published this week in Nature.
Workshop Focuses in on Electron Microscopy
An all-day workshop highlighting the Berkeley Lab’s capabilities in electron microscopy was held on Tuesday, October 11. Organized by Paul Adams (Biosciences Area), Peter Denes (Advanced Light Source) and Andy Minor (National Center for Electron Microscopy), the workshop highlighted recent advances in imaging a broad range of materials and biological samples at atomic, or near-atomic scales. In addition, it made evident the many opportunities that could come from integrating capabilities across the Laboratory. Paul Adams, Director of the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division, noted that the recent revolution in electron microscopy for biosciences has opened up many new avenues of research and exciting synergies with non-biosciences programs at the Lab. Read more in Glenn Roberts’ Science Short on the Berkeley Lab News Center.
Bioscientists Validate Novel Protein Design Program
Over the course of billions of years, nature has evolved particular molecular structures that form the basis of life, such as those found in nucleic acids and proteins. Using the natural form as a springboard, University of Washington researchers have designed protein homo-oligomers, or identical interacting subunits, which can contain interchangeable hydrogen bonding modules for building different structures or functions. The team of researchers, led by David Baker at the University of Washington, included Jose Henrique Pereira, Banumathi Sankaran, and Peter Zwart of the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division (MBIB).
Adams Named Division Director for Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging
Jay Keasling, Associate Laboratory Director for Biosciences, has announced that Paul Adams has accepted the position of Division Director for the Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging (MBIB) Division. Adams served as the MBIB Interim Division Director since the Biosciences Area re-organization took effect this past October 1 and has been instrumental in developing a strategic plan and leading the effort to launch the Division.
LDRD Update: Six PBD Researchers Awarded FY15 Funding and FY16 Announcement
The projects of six Physical Biosciences Scientists and Engineers received funding through the FY2015 Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program. These projects cover a broad range of topics, including energy, biomanufacturing, and technology and tool development. Together, these efforts account for nearly 15% of the $24.9 million allocated. Eighty-two proposals were selected from a field of 169. There was an equal distribution of new and continuing projects among the selected PBD proposals.
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