BMB Weekly #34: August 29, 2025

 

Critical mass: core upgrades pave way for Spartan science   A revamped facility space, installation of advanced instruments, and the vision of a new director are providing Spartan scientists with the tools they need to achieve cutting-edge science at MSU’s Mass Spectrometry and Metabolomics Core. Read the full article here.

 

 

Ben Orlando from Michigan State University will be presenting "Physical Coupling of Membrane Transport and Signaling in Antimicrobial Resistance".

To join us on Zoom, click this link. Password: bmbseminar

The Fall BMB Seminar Series will run through December 4, 2025. The complete schedule is available on the BMB Fall Seminar Series website. If you are interested in meeting with any of these speakers please email Leslie Williams, glady@msu.edu. Many speakers are planning to visit in-person. A Zoom option will continue to be offered for all seminars.

 

Join the Mid-Michigan Spartans on Saturday, Aug. 30‚ as we visit the Student Memorial Tribute Trees planted across campus. The trees have been planted annually since 2014 to honor students who pass away during the academic year. We’ll meet at Jenison Fieldhouse and observe a moment of silence at each location. Learn more and register here.

HealthySpartans is hosting Mindful STATE Days to help you recharge and start the new school year right. Take time out of your busy schedule for mindfulness and meditation activities around campus and online. Whether you are new or experienced in mindfulness, you will find tools to support your wellbeing. Activities include meditation stations, webinars, and a concert under Beaumont Tower. Learn more here.

In this interactive workshop, you'll learn practical strategies for managing your time with clarity and intention. We'll explore ways to prioritize what matters most, setting boundaries, and living within a  schedule that reflects both your academic responsibilities and your personal values. Learn more here.

Join us on the first Friday of each month for three hours of dedicated time to advance your scholarship.  Past participants have written journal articles, grant proposals, book chapters, theses or dissertations, curricula, pieces for public audiences, and community engagement portfolios. Participants should plan to write for the full three hours. We start the write-in by sharing writing goals for the day and wrap up with accomplishments and next steps. Learn more and register here.

If you love dancing, music, and nature, then you want to join MSU Museum for Harvest Moon Silent Disco. Set in the serene beauty of Beal Botanical Garden, come dance the night away while breathing in the gorgeous nature around you. Throw on a set of wireless headphones, choose your favorite channel, discover new plants, and learn something new about nature. Whether you are vibing alone, with a friend, or a partner, enjoy soaking in the beautiful atmosphere and reset. Wander the garden paths, enjoy seasonal snacks, and explore activities designed to bring you back to your center and unwind. Music, movement, and moonlight— this is your moment to start the school year feeling fully rooted. Tickets are free, but limited! Learn more and register here.

This conference will bring together plant scientists and students to push the boundaries of plant science, promote collaborations, and empower the next-generation plant science leaders. This conference is organized by 10 universities in the states and provinces around the Great Lakes and open to anyone in the world. The 1st Great Lakes Plant Science Conference 2025 is hosted by Michigan State University (MSU) in collaboration with the Plant Resilience Institute at MSU. Learn more and register here.

The MSU Museum CoLab Studio is looking for ten passionate students at Michigan State to each give an Ignite talk on their research! You can be any type or level of student at MSU doing a project in any field of research. Ignite talks are a creative way to communicate one big idea in 5 minutes flat, using only 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. Previous public speaking or stage experience is not required! All selected speakers will participate in a research communication workshop prior to the big day, to help them hone their story to ignite the audience. Learn more and apply here.

 

NatSci Excellence-in-Teaching Citation and Undergraduate Learning Assistant packets are due September 1, 2024 to natsci.dean@msu.edu. Excellence-in-Teaching citation awards lead to nominations for corresponding MSU university-wide awards. The descriptions of each award and nomination information can be found here. Please feel free to contact Teri Compeau or Angela Wilson with any questions.

The Plant Cell is now accepting applications for Assistant Features Editors (AFEs) to begin in 2026 and 2027 (more details here)! This is a great opportunity for early career researchers passionate about plant biology and science communication.

What AFEs Do:

• Write In Brief articles highlighting recent publications in The Plant Cell
• Participate in editorial board discussions and training
• Receive mentorship in peer review and editorial decision-making
• Attend Plant Cell editorial board meetings (travel covered for the in-person meeting)

Program Details:

• Two cohorts will be selected from this application cycle (starting in 2026 and 2027)
• Appointments are for 1 year, renewable for a second
• AFEs receive a small honorarium and financial support to attend in-person editorial meetings (typically held with the ASPB Plant Biology meeting)
• Recruitment alternates with Plant Physiology (which will recruit AFEs in 2026 for 2027–2028)

Learn more and apply here.

Nominations for the College of Natural Science Alumni Awards are open for 2026! Submit your nominations for Outstanding Alumni, Recent Alumni, Alumni Service, and more by Friday, September 26. Learn more and make a nomination here.

 

Be sure to visit the Spartan Experiences webpage for the full MSU Fall Welcome schedule. There are tons of fun activities planned for ALL students. It’s a great time to get to know your whole campus community.

As part of our health and wellbeing efforts, the NatSci Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in collaboration with MSU Food Bank, is pleased to share a free resource for all students and employees. No Sign up needed. For questions and inquiries about this resource, please get in touch with Nick Goldblatt (natsci.dei@msu.edu). 

You can find the latest department news over on LinkedIn and BlueSky. Give us a follow and be sure to tag us with research updates, publications, and lab updates to help spread the word!

The MSU Student Food Bank is a resource available to students and scholars who may be experiencing food insecurity. The Food Bank provides free food and other essential items to those in need within our MSU community. Learn more here.

 

The Fitzsimmons lab in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is seeking a postdoctoral research associate for projects focused on the intersection of RNA biology and metabolism. The lab’s research directions include: 1) investigating molecular-level metabolic factors driving RNA modification changes; 2) understanding the regulation of RNA writers and erasers by metabolism; and 3) the role of tumor heterogeneity in RNA gene regulation. The lab employs multidisciplinary approaches from chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, and bioinformatics to investigate the role of RNA modifications and modification enzymes both in vitro and in vivo. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

West Shore Community College seeks Short-Term Biology Faculty to cover courses during a leave of absence (Oct 30 - Dec 12). If on campus lab coverage is not possible, the college is open to moving to online labs. Compensation is negotiable and may include travel, lodging, etc. This is a great opportunity for a graduate student with a completed master’s degree to gain experience teaching in a community college setting. Learn more and apply here.

The Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology (IPMB), Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan (https://ipmb.sinica.edu.tw/), invites applications for tenure-track faculty positions at all levels in the research areas of plants and plant-related microbes. Successful candidates should have research records complementary to the current IPMB research capacities or have the potential to launch a new research direction. Preference will be given, but not limited to, applicants with research experience in integrative structural biology or translational plant biology.

The mission of IPMB is to explore the functionality of plants and microbes to benefit science, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and human well-being. As a research institution funded by the central government, IPMB maintains well-equipped core facilities managed by Research Specialists/Assistants to provide state-of-the-art resources and key technical expertise for proteomics, genomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, cell biology, and imaging. The successful candidates will receive generous startup, annual intramural funds, and external competitive grant opportunities to establish independent/collaborative research programs. Learn more and apply here.

 

 

Barkarar, M., Sarkar, D., Hunt, C. G., & Vermaas, J. V. (2025). Quantifying Chemically Modified Acetylation Induced Changes in the Plant Secondary Cell Wall Structure and Dynamics. Biomacromolecules, 10.1021/acs.biomac.5c00391. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.5c00391

Jiang, N., García Navarrete, T., Lee, Y. S., Pawlowski, E. G., Park, S., & Grotewold, E. (2025). Flavonoid pathway intermediates implicate UVR8 in functions beyond canonical UV-B signaling. Nature communications, 16(1), 7810. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-63010-3

Khedia, J., Kenea, H. D., Castaneda-Méndez, O., Kwarteng, V., Feder, D., Galsurker, O., Barg, R., Grotewold, E., & Arazi, T. (2025). MADS-BOX PROTEIN3 cooperatively acts with AGAMOUS-like6 and MADS-BOX PROTEIN22 to suppress parthenocarpy in tomato. Plant physiology, kiaf363. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys/kiaf363

Rastandeh, A., Makasarashvili, N., Dhaliwal, H. K., Baker, S., Subramanian, S., Villarreal, D. A., Gamez, E. I., Parent, K. N., & Garmann, R. F. (2025). Measuring the selective packaging of RNA molecules by viral coat proteins in cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(33), e2505190122. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2505190122

Wu, H. L., Kaufman, I. D., & Hsu, P. Y. (2025). The ggRibo single-gene viewer reveals insights into translatome and other nucleotide-resolution omics data. Genome research, 10.1101/gr.280480.125. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.280480.125

 

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 58, No.34