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Keeping algae from stressing out

DOE/Joint Genome Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Some algae like Chlamydomonas reinhardtii produce energy-dense oils or lipids when stressed, and these lipids can then be converted into fuels. However, researchers must stress the algae just enough to produce lipids, but not enough to kill them. In Nature Plants, a team led by DOE Joint Genome Institute scientists analyzed the genes being activated during algal lipid production; particularly the molecular machinery that orchestrates these gene activities inside the cell when it produces lipids.

Journal: Nature Plants
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Atomic view of microtubules

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab researchers produced an atomic view of microtubules that enabled them to identify the crucial role played by a family of end-binding proteins in regulating microtubule dynamic instability, the physical property that enables microtubules to play a crucial role in cell division.

Journal: Cell

Meet the high-performance single-molecule diode

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers from Berkeley Lab and Columbia University have created the world's highest-performance single-molecule diode. Development of a functional single-molecule diode is a major pursuit of the electronics industry.

Journal: Nature Nanotechnology
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science, National Science Foundation

Short wavelength plasmons observed in nanotubes

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Working at the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab researchers have observed 'Luttinger-liquid' plasmons in metallic single-walled nanotubes. This holds great promise for novel plasmonic and nanophotonic devices over a broad frequency range, including telecom wavelengths.

Journal: Nature Photonics
Funder: US Department of Energy's Office of Science

Unlocking the rice immune system

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

JBEI and UC Davis researchers have identified a bacterial signaling molecule that triggers an immunity response in rice plants, enabling the plants to resist a devastating blight disease.

Journal: Science Advances

Long-sought discovery fills in missing details of cell 'switchboard'

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A biomedical breakthrough in the journal Nature reveals never-before-seen details of the human body's cellular switchboard that regulates sensory and hormonal responses. The work is based on an X-ray laser experiment at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Journal: Nature

A most singular nano-imaging technique

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

'SINGLE' is a new imaging technique that provides the first atomic-scale 3-D structures of individual nanoparticles in solution. This is an important step for improving the design of colloidal nanoparticles for catalysis and energy research applications.

Journal: Science

Unearthing cornerstones in root microbiomes

DOE/Joint Genome Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A plant's immune system can distinguish between friends and foes among these microbes, and upon detecting pathogens, can produce regulatory chemicals called phytohormones to activate a defensive response. In a study published online July 16, 2015, in Science Express, a team including scientists from the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute looked at roles of three phytohormones in controlling the composition of the root microbiome in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.

Journal: Science
Funder: DOE/US Department of Energy

Gut microbes enable coffee pest to withstand extremely toxic concentrations of caffeine

DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Berkeley Lab scientists discovered that coffee berry borers worldwide share 14 bacterial species in their digestive tracts that degrade and detoxify caffeine. They also found the most prevalent of these bacteria has a gene that helps break down caffeine. Their research sheds light on the ecology of the destructive bug and could lead to new ways to fight it.

Journal: Nature Communications
Funder: Mexico's National Council for Science and Technology, US Department of Agriculture, Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Berkeley Lab

New design could dramatically boost efficiency of low-cost solar panels

DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A new material design tested in experiments at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory could make low-cost solar panels far more efficient by greatly enhancing their ability to collect the sun's energy and release it as electricity.