BMB Weekly #30: August 2, 2024

 

"Eric Hegg recommended as dean of MSU’s College of Natural Science" Read the full article here. "Sugary Surprise nets UURAF Grand Prize" Featuring Coral Brock and Rachel Kerwin. Read the full article here.

 

 

 

Laleh Dinpazhouh and Michael Nikolovski will talk about their research, plans for future research, and/or journal article of interest, with plenty of time for questions and answers. Please join us for pizza and drinks, and a chance to hear what your peers are up to. We will meet outside at the picnic tables in the garden, or BCH 208 if inclement weather.

The Integrative Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (IPSTP) Annual Retreat will be held on September 26th from 9 AM - 4 PM. It will feature student speakers, a poster session, and a Keynote from Dr. Rick Neubig. Lunch and an afternoon reception is included. Everyone from the MSU community whose research includes or is relevant to pharmacology is welcome to attend and present a poster! This includes students (graduate and undergraduate), postdocs, research assistants / technicians, and faculty. Poster presenters are eligible for poster awards, given at the end of day reception. Learn more and submit an abstract here.

• August 15, 2024: 1st Year Students

Scheduled to take place at Michigan State University, ComSciCon-MI is a free workshop focused on science communication. This event is tailored specifically for graduate students and postdocs in Michigan and neighboring regions, and this year, we are pleased to extend participation opportunities to undergraduates interested in science communication as well. ComSciCon is widely recognized for its impactful professional development programs, conceptualized and led by STEM graduate students. Each year, we select 40 participants to attend the workshop at no cost, thanks to the generous support of our sponsors. The program features panel sessions with approximately 20 invited professional science communicators, writing sessions to hone participants' skills, peer and expert review of writing, and a pop talk contest where participants showcase their science outreach projects and forge new collaborations. Learn more here and apply here.

With a mission to share the latest, most impactful research findings in the molecular life sciences, the ASBMB Annual Meeting offers an exciting agenda that includes talks by the field's foremost experts, interactive workshops on the latest trends, technologies and techniques, and an invigorating exhibition of posters, services and products. The meeting attracts researchers in academia and industry, educators, trainees and students from across the globe. It offers unparalleled opportunities for collaborating, networking and recruiting. ASBMB members are invited to submit proposals for interest group sessions and workshops for the 2025 ASBMB Annual Meeting. Learn more and submit a proposal here.

 

 

This event is available entirely virtually with select hybrid sessions and features a variety of no-cost trainings and webinars to help MSU educators and staff prepare for the fall semester and beyond.

The seminars will focus on ways to enhance student success and connect to an array of resources including:

• Intro to classroom technology
• Intro to MSU Libraries
• Accessibility and blended learning skills
• Overviews of tools like D2L, Microsoft 365, Teams, Forms, and OneDrive
• And much more!

Learn more and register here.

The MSU Department of Police and Public Safety has released an online Active Violence Incident Awareness Training program that is available for students, faculty, and staff. This training includes a presentation explaining how to respond during an active violence situation. Throughout the training, knowledge checkpoint questions will appear on screen to evaluate participants’ understanding of the content. In addition, a video is in development, which will be included in the training at a later time. Learn more here.

Eligible to undergraduates, graduates, and professional students enrolled in Fall/Spring semester and without a dining plan. Fruits, soups, pasta, rice, protein, cereal, bread, and fresh produce available year-round! To learn more about visiting the MSU Foodbank, or to donate, visit here.

 

The small-molecule regulation group led by Dr. Aleksandra Skirycz seeks a postdoctoral researcher associate with expertise in plant molecular biology and biochemistry. Experience with untargeted metabolomics and compound identification is a plus. The research associate will lead or contribute to projects focused on the identification and functional characterization of novel small-molecule compounds involved in plant growth and stress tolerance and, more generally, organismal health. The starting point of our research is protein-metabolite interaction networks mapped in the group using an array of biochemical approaches and primarily co-fractionation mass-spectrometry. The available interactomes, spanning microbes, animals, and plants, are a treasure trove for discovery. The research associate will query the available interactomes for novel regulatory metabolite-protein pairings, followed by biochemical and functional characterization. The lab is working closely with the MSU metabolomics and proteomics cores. It is fully equipped for molecular and biochemical work, including state-of-the-art technologies to characterize protein-ligand binding. The lab has a strong collaboration network, and the research associate will be encouraged to tap into this network and forge their own collaborations. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

We seek to recruit a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher with training in molecular biology, plant genetics, or cell biology. The project will leverage recent advances in microscopy, genetics, and physiology to understand molecular mechanisms of dehydration and desiccation tolerance in Arabidopsis. This project is part of a recently funded NSF Biology Integration Institute called Water and Life Interface Institute (WALII, pronounced “Wally”). WALII studies how life interacts with water, from the molecular to the organismal level, across plants, fungi, and animals. WALII is a virtual institute, with scientists located at nine research facilities across the United States. Working together, WALII team members aim to uncover the rules by which organisms interact with water. The candidate selected for this position will be working primarily on Theme 2. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting and apply at this link.

 

Cavuzic, M. T., de Sousa, A. S., Lohman, J. R., & Waldrop, G. L. (2024). Kinetic characterization of the C-terminal domain of Malonyl-CoA reductase. Biochimica et biophysica acta. Proteins and proteomics, 1872(5), 141033. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbapap.2024.141033

George, N. L., Bennett, E. C., & Orlando, B. J. (2024). Guarding the walls: the multifaceted roles of Bce modules in cell envelope stress sensing and antimicrobial resistance. Journal of bacteriology, 206(7), e0012324. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00123-24

López-Goldar, X., Mollema, A., Sivak-Schwennesen, C., Havko, N., Howe, G., Agrawal, A. A., & Wetzel, W. C. (2024). Heat waves induce milkweed resistance to a specialist herbivore via increased toxicity and reduced nutrient content. Plant, cell & environment, 10.1111/pce.15040. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.15040

Rafnsdottir, S., Jang, K., Halldorsdottir, S. T., Vinod, M., Tomasdottir, A., Möller, K., Halldorsdottir, K., Reynisdottir, T., Atladottir, L. H., Allison, K. E., Ostacolo, K., He, J., Zhang, L., Northington, F. J., Magnusdottir, E., Chavez-Valdez, R., Anderson, K. J., & Bjornsson, H. T. (2024). SMYD5 is a regulator of the mild hypothermia response. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology, 2023.05.11.540170. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.11.540170

Shen, L., Feng, H., Qiu, Y., & Wei, G. W. (2024). Author Correction: SVSBI: sequence-based virtual screening of biomolecular interactions. Communications biology, 7(1), 864. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06554-2

Zhao, G., Richaud, A. D., Williamson, R. T., Feig, M., & Roche, S. P. (2024). De Novo Synthesis and Structural Elucidation of CDR-H3 Loop Mimics. ACS chemical biology, 19(7), 1583–1592. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.4c00236

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 57, No.30