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 biological polymers.

Daniel Cosgrove Biology Department, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-3892 Email: dcosgrove@psu.edu Research Website With a  research background is 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.

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.

Ying Gu Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Penn State Phone: 814-867-3827 Email: yug13@psu.edu Department Website Our main objective is to characterize the molecular and cellular mechanisms controlling cellulose biosynthesis in higher plants.

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 Research 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 The Maranas group has both experimental and computational projects related to the Center.  We are using neutron scattering methods to determine the mobility and structural location of water within and near cellulose microfibrils, and model hemicelluloses around the microfibril surface.  We are also developing coarse-grained molecular dynamics force fields for cellulose and model hemicelluloses to understand  structure and organization within the plant cell wall.

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 Fundamental understanding of the role and contribution of cell wall constituents to the overall mechanical response is of considerable importance. Toward that end, a mechanics principles-based computational model embodying the cell wall architecture 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.

Tom Richard Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-863-1042 Email: trichard@psu.edu Richard Lab Richard's Bioconversion Research Group applies fundamental engineering science to microbial ecosystems, developing innovative strategies for a more sustainable agriculture and the emerging bio-based economy.

Alex I. Smirnov Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University Phone: 919-513-4377 Email: Alex_Smirnov@ncsu.edu Department Website Research activities in the lab are focused on biophysics of lipid bilayerand membrane proteins, magnetic resonance, and hybrid nanostructures. With CLSF funding the Smirnov lab initiated biophysical spectroscopic studies of CesA to elucidate structure and dynamics of the transmembrane helice sand to develop efficient approaches for incorporating this protein into nano-engineered platforms.

Bernhard Tittmann Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, Pennsylvania State University Phone: 814-865-7827 Email: brt4@psu.edu Department Website State of the art quantitative high resolution Atomic Force Microscopy techniques are being used to image and measure cell wall structure components and associated mechanical properties in natural and changing environments.  The quantitative measurement capabilities allow the determination of physical properties of the cell wall structure which can be used to both inform and validate the respective assumptions and predictions of the multi-scale modeling effort.

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.