Our People

Douglas D. Archibald, Ph.D. Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-8449 E-mail: dda10@psu.edu Department Website My research group aims to develop model experimental systems that extend our understanding of the molecular structure of lignocellulose surfaces and their physicochemical interactions with biopolymers that are important for the assembly and stabilization of cell walls.

Nicole R. Brown School of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-7423 Email: nrb10@psu.edu Department Website The Brown group will explore the physiochemical nature of lignocellulosic materials via techniques such as NMR, dynamic mechanical analysis, and rheology, including analysis of both plant cell walls and model cell wall systems.  The techniques utilized will detect differences in chemical structure and morphology due to genetic manipulations, enzymatic treatments, and various configurations of model systems.

John Carlson School of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-9164 Email: jec16@psu.edu Department Website My research group is collaborating with the Tien, Kao and Haigler groups to study wall polymer interactions from plant systems.  My groups is specifically developing a protoplast cell wall regeneration system for studying the initial stages of cellulose synthesis, cellulose structure, and cell wall polymerization in Arabidopsis and Populus cells.

Jeffrey Catchmark Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-0414 Email: jcatchmark@engr.psu.edu Department Website Prof. Catchmark’s research focuses on cellulose synthesis and assembly; microbial cellulose production; cellulose nanocomposite materials; and the interaction of cellulose with proteins, enzymes, and biologically derived polymers.

Daniel Cosgrove Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-3892 Email: dcosgrove@psu.edu Deparment Website My research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of cell expansion. By use of biophysical, biochemical and molecular techniques, in combination with whole-plant measurements, we are trying to determine (a) which processes limits growth under normal and stressed conditions and (b) how plants regulate their growth rates.

Vincent Crespi Physics Department, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-0163 Email: vhc2@psu.edu Department Website My research investigates the dynamical and statistical properties of the assembly of nanoscale systems such as biopolymers related to cell wall structure, as revealed by molecular dynamics simulation and statistical physics.

Alan Esker Department of Chemistry, Virginia Tech Phone: 540-231-4601 Email: aesker@vt.edu Department Website Our group chemically modifies cellulose and hemicelluloses to create derivatives that are capable of forming model surfaces.  For this project, we are exploring the interactions of hemicelluloses, pectins, and lignin with cellulose surfaces, and lignin with hemicellulose and composite hemicellulose/cellulose surfaces.

Candace Haigler Department of Crop Sciences, North Carolina State University Phone: 540-231-4601 Email: Candace_Haigler@ncsu.edu Department Website 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.

James Kubicki Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-3951 Email: jdk7@psu.edu Department Website Kubicki's research concentrates on using quantum mechanical calculations to understand the structure and energetics of cell wall interactions on a molecular level.  These calculations are used to predict small-scale bonding arrangements such as H-bonding and van der Waal's forces. The results are also used to test and develop classical force fields for larger scale simulations (see Maranas, Zhong, Crespi) and help interpret experimental data (e.g., Catchmark, Archibald).

Janna Maranas Department of Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-6228 Email: jmaranas@psu.edu Department Website We have developed coarse-grained force fields for synthetic polymers, and we are now applying this knowledge to the polymers cellulose and hemi-cellulose.  We have used neutron scattering to determine the volume fraction, shape and thickness of polymer/salt systems used for solid polymer electrolytes and will use a similar approach to study the extent and type of crystallinity in cellulosic materials.

Ming Tien Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-1165 Email: mxt3@psu.edu Department Website Tien's lab works on the ensemble of enzymes that is required to degrade lignin to carbon dioxide.

Virendra Puri Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-3559 Email: vmpuri@psu.edu Department Website The interactions of mechanical, transport, and thermal properties at multiple scales are involved in many important biomass processes, including water transport and biomass degradation. Toward this end, multiscale models will be developed and verified.

Teh-hui Kao Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-1042 Email: txk3@psu.edu Kao Lab The Kao lab will use protein-protein interaction assays to identify protein components of cellulose synthase complexes in Acetobacter and in more complex systems (algae and plants); will identify novel cellulose-binding motifs; will modify plant cellulose to change its crystallinity.

Alex I. Smirnov Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University Phone: 919-513-4377 Email: Alex_Smirnov@ncsu.edu Department Website Research activities are concentrated in three principal areas: 1) lipid membranes assembled within nanotubular  arrays that are suitable for incorporation of functional membranes proteins including photosynthetic reaction center and CesA, 2) magnetic resonance spectroscopy of membrane proteins with the focus on fundamental roles of hydrophobic and hydrogen-bonding interactions on membrane insertion and selfassembly, 3) hybrid nanoscale devices for manipulating biological function of membrane proteins.

Bernhard Tittmann Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-7827 Email: brt4@psu.edu Engineering Nanostructure Characterization Center High-resolution microscopy based on combining ultrasound with atomic force microscopy for the imaging of individual plant cells will be used for time-lapse imaging of cell interiors during the extension process to characterize the nano-scale movements of cell microfibrils to provide detail of the dynamics and the microfibril-level motions underlying cell wall extension.

Yaroslava Yingling Department of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University Phone: 919-513-2624 Email: yara_yingling@ncsu.edu Department 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.

Linghao Zhong Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University, Mont Alto Campus Phone: 717-7496240 Email: luz4@psu.edu Department website Our research will explore the interactions between various cell wall components (such as cellulose, lignin and proteins) by computer modeling.  Complement to comprehensive experimental researches, our study will provide a better understand the structure of cell wall structure and functions.