Our People

Charles T. Anderson Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-4736 E-mail: cta3@psu.edu Research Website My research group studies the synthesis, modification, and degradation of plant cell walls, focusing on wall polymer network rearrangements during cell growth and on functional interactions between pectins and cellulose.

Daniel J. Cosgrove Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-3892 Email: dcosgrove@psu.edu University Profile With a research background in the biophysics and biochemistry of plant cell wall growth, my research group studies the interactions of plant cell wall matrix polysaccharides with cellulose and the biomechanical consequences of disrupting these interactions.

Paul Dupree Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge Phone: +44 (0)1223 333340 Email: pd101@cam.ac.uk Research Website Our research uses biochemical and molecular genetics to understand how the structure of xylan impacts on its interaction with cellulose and pectin in primary and secondary cell walls.

Enrique D. Gomez Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-867-3428 Email: edg12@psu.edu Research Website Our group is interested in applying advanced X-ray scattering techniques for the study of plant cell walls. Our emphasis is on the study of cellulose structure to elucidate assembly.

Esther W. Gomez Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-867-4732 Email: ewgomez@engr.psu.edu Research Website Our research team uses advanced x-ray scattering techniques to elucidate the structure, organization, and crystallinity of cellulose within plant cell walls.

Ying Gu Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Penn State Phone: 814-867-3827 Email: yug13@psu.edu Research Website Our group’s research aims to understand cellulose biosynthesis and the role of cytoskeleton in primary cell walls: identification and characterization of novel proteins associated with cellulose synthase complexes using forward and reverse genetics approaches.

Candace Haigler Department of Crop Sciences, North Carolina State University Phone: 919-515-5645 Email: Candace_Haigler@ncsu.edu Department Profile The Haigler lab will perform cryo-fracture deep-etch transmission electron microscopy in combination with immunolabeling of particular protein constituents to explore further the composition and function of the cellulose synthesizing complex. The aim is to understand the composition and operation of the cellulose synthesizing nanomachine from a bioengineering perspective.

Mei Hong Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Phone: 617-253-5521 Email: meihong@mit.edu Research Website My group employs advanced multidimensional solid-state NMR spectroscopic techniques to investigate molecular-level cellulose-hemicellulose and cellulose-pectin interactions in various plant cell walls, to determine the high-resolution structure of crystalline and amorphous cellulose, and to investigate how proteins bind carbohydrates for function.

Seong H. Kim Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-4809 Email: shk10@psu.edu Research Website Our group has expertise in vibration spectroscopy and interfacial characterization. The Kim group is applying sum-frequency-generation (SFG) vibration spectroscopy to plant cell walls to study structure of crystalline cellulose and how interactions with other matrix polysaccharides influence the cellulose structure.

James D. Kubicki Department of Earth, Environmental and Resource Sciences, University of Texas at El Paso Phone: 915-747-6085 Email: jkubicki@utep.edu University Profile James D. Kubicki has focused his research on using computational chemistry in tandem with experimental and analytical techniques to solve problems a wide variety of systems from silicate glasses, oxide nanoparticles, natural organic matter in soils, and bacterial extracellular polymers. Within CLSF, Kubicki has researched cellulose structure, plant cell wall component interactions and the generation/formation of cellulose.

B. Tracy Nixon Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-4904, 814-777-1091 Email: btn1@psu.edu University Profile My CLSF studies are expected to reveal 3D electron density maps for structures of cellulose synthase complex (CSC) in resting and catalytic phases, from which we will learn how the structure of resting CSCs evolve when triggered to synthesize glucan chains for assembly into cellulose microfibrils. To do this work, we improve expression of membrane proteins, isolate enzyme from plant cell membranes, and reconstruct 3D structures from single particles obtained by conventional and dynamic TEM.

Hugh O'Neill Biology and Soft Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Phone: 865-574-5283 Email: oneillhm@ornl.gov CSMB Website Small-angle neutron scattering will be used to study the solution structure of the cellulose synthase complex (CSC) utilizing deuterium labeling of biomolecules, neutron diffraction and SANS approaches. Computational approaches will be focused on integrating neutron scattering and diffraction with simulation to improve the accuracy and efficiency of calculations giving new insights into the mechanisms of lignocellulose formation.

Alison Roberts Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island Phone: 401-874-4098 Email: aroberts@uri.edu Department Profile My research group is investigating how the structure of cellulose synthase proteins affects cellulose synthesis complex assembly and microfibril structure using a novel complementation assay in Physcomitrella patens. We are also exploiting a dramatic osmotic stress-induced upregulation of cellulose deposition in P. patens to identify coregulated transcripts and proteins that may be involved in cellulose deposition.

Amir Sheikhi Department of Chemical Engineering and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Biomaterials and Regenerative Engineering Email: sheikhi@psu.edu Research Website Interest areas: Hairy nanocelluloses as an emerging family of advanced materials; Micro- and Nanoengineering Soft Materials for Medicine and the Environment (Bio-Soft Materials Laboratory, B-SMaL): Microfluidic-enabled biomaterials for tissue engineering and regeneration; living materials; next-generation bioadhesives, tissue sealants, and hemostatic agents; hydrogels for minimally invasive medical technologies; self-healing and adaptable soft materials; smart coatings.

Tuo Wang Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University Email: wangtuo1@msu.edu Research Website Wang group employs solid-state NMR and Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) methods to understand the structure and packing of lignin and polysaccharides in secondary plant cell walls.

Yaroslava Yingling Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University Phone: 919-513-2624 Email: yara_yingling@ncsu.edu Research Website Computational prediction of secondary and three-dimensional structure of proteins in cellulose synthase complex. Molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo modeling of rosette and mechanisms of cellulose fiber production.

Jochen Zimmer Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia Phone: 434-243-6506 Email: jochen_zimmer@virginia.edu Research Website Our group is interested in a molecular understanding of cellulose synthesis and membrane translocation. We use molecular and structural biology techniques to unravel how cellulose is synthesized and deposited outside the cell and how individual cellulose polymers can be organized into microfibrils.