BMB Weekly #35: September 5, 2025

 

Zachary Burton Publishes The God Molecule   Professor Emeritus Zachary Burton's new book, The God Molecule: Evolution of tRNA and the Genetic Code, is out now. BMB community members are eligible for a discount using the code: AUTHOR40.

 

 

Josh Vermaas from Michigan State University will be presenting "Resolving biological transport processes at the molecular scale through the computational microscope".

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.

 

What can an artist’s process teach us about transformation in our own lives? Join Assistant Curator Dr. Rachel Winter for a walkthrough of unbecoming and learn more about finding the power in “unbecoming.” Learn more and register here.

All members of MSU share responsibility to assure that misconduct or fraud in research and creative activity is dealt with effectively and that MSU's high standards for scholarly integrity are preserved. This workshop will review types of misconduct (fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism) that occur in proposing, performing, or reviewing research and scholarly activities, and best practices to avoid these. The session will also cover proper behavior in mentor-mentee relationships. Learn more and register here. 

This four-week workshop focuses on improving concentration, attention, and motivation to complete academic and work demands. Students will leave the workshop with tangible skills they can implement to improve daily functioning. Workshops Begin September 10 and re-start every 4 weeks. A pre-group meeting is required to join. Please ask your CAPS counselor or schedule a consultation here to learn more.

This unique opportunity allows Graduate Students the chance to connect with The Graduate School leadership and staff in a relaxed and informal lunch setting. Connect about career and school journeys, gain understanding of The Graduate School programs that empower graduate student success and engage in candid discussions about university and student life.

Why Attend?

• Share experiences in a safe space.
• Learn more about what the Graduate School offers, such as professional development & educational wellbeing opportunities.
• Enjoy a meal and conversation with new people!

Learn more and register here.

Plant Cell Atlas (PCA) is a center grant affiliated with the Michigan State University Plant Resilience Institute (PRI). This panel discussion is the final installment of the Plant Cell Identity Webinar Series. This series of talks brings together experts around the world to discuss the wonders of plant cell identity. From working out how cells develop their identity to uncovering how cell states change through development and from stress, these webinars will cover how plant cell types and states are defined quantitatively and qualitatively using single-cell and spatial omics approaches. 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.

 

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.

The MSU Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) is seeking trainee-led proposals for collaborative projects exploring novel ideas in plant resilience research, broadly defined. The proposed research must not already be funded by an existing grant or part of a current research program. We encourage proposals to be synergistic across MSU laboratories and focus on projects that are both high-risk and high-reward.

Any MSU graduate student or postdoctoral researcher is eligible to submit a proposal, and proposals with graduate student lead PIs will be evaluated separately than those with postdoctoral lead PIs. However, at least one Co-PI must be a member of a PRI lab. Faculty members are not permitted to serve as PIs or Co-PIs, and individuals may participate as PI or Co-PI on only one proposal.

For more information, including proposal preparation and submission instructions, visit this link. Learn more and apply here.

 

Are you interested in a career as a faculty member or other academic professional? Have you ever wondered how universities work? Do you want to learn more about the roles, rights, and responsibilities of faculty and academic professionals?

As a result of participating fully in this course, students should be able to:

• Understand from different perspectives current trends in US and global higher education, including challenges and opportunities facing the academy
• Think strategically about the academic job market such that they will be competitive and well positioned to enter an academic profession
• Prepare for success in chosen career path, respond to new developments that require professional adaptations, and become leaders in their respective disciplines and academic professions.

Learn more and apply here.

Counseling Services offers a variety of counseling, support, and educational groups each semester. Participants benefit from the mutual support and learning that occurs from interaction with others who have similar concerns. Unless otherwise noted, all groups will require a pre-group meeting. For more information, or to schedule your pre-group consultation, please schedule an appointment and state your interest in group counseling on the form.

Groups include:

• Graduate Student Support Group
• RA Support Group
• International Student Support Space
• & More

Learn more here.

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.

 

Michigan State University's Plant Resilience Institute (PRI) is seeking a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher to lead a project focused on discovering a new class of regulatory metabolites and their nuclear signaling mechanisms that govern plant resilience. The project integrates bioinformatics, molecular genetics, protein structural prediction, and experimental validation to investigate their roles in gene regulation and stress response. The postdoctoral researcher will lean efforts in gene characterization, reverse genetics and ligand screening using phenotyping and molecular genetic approaches. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to conceptual advances in plant stress hormone biology, while building tools and resources of broad utility to the plant science community. The successful candidate will join a highly interdisciplinary team led by Dr. Gregg Howe, with collaborators across PRI. Learn more about this MSU Careers posting here.

The Howe lab is searching for a self-motivated and well-organized undergraduate student to join our research team as a lab assistant. Responsibilities include cleaning glassware, updating, and maintaining a chemical inventory, organizing supplies, and assisting others with experiments (e.g., preparing culture media). There will be opportunities to continue during summer/winter breaks and to work on an independent research project related to sulfur metabolism. Learn more and apply 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.

 

 

Fan, Y., Noble, D. W. A., Medlyn, B. E., Monson, R. K., Sage, R. F., Smith, N. G., Ainsworth, E. A., Busch, F. A., Danila, F. R., Ermakova, M., Friesen, P., Furbank, R. T., Gan, S. H., Ghannoum, O., Griffith, D. M., Gu, L., Jacob, V., Knauer, J., Leakey, A. D. B., Li, S., … Way, D. A. (2025). Environmental factors have a greater influence on photosynthetic capacity in C4 plants than biochemical subtypes or growth forms. The New phytologist, 10.1111/nph.70525. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70525

Granados-Villanueva, D., Rossow, A., & Kim, K. H. (2025). Get4/5-Mediated Remodeling of Get3's Substrate Binding Chamber: Insights into Tail-Anchored Protein Targeting by the GET Pathway. The Journal of biological chemistry, 110667. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2025.110667

Jiang, Y., Nikolovski, M., Wang, T., MacRenaris, K., O'Halloran, T. V., & Hu, J. (2025). Targeting the selectivity filter to drastically alter the activity and substrate spectrum of a promiscuous metal transporter. Chemical science, 10.1039/d5sc03700j. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1039/d5sc03700j

Khatri, K., Ball, A., Glesner, J., Linn, C., Vailes, L. D., Wünschmann, S., Gabel, S. A., Zhang, J., Peebles, R. S., Jr, Borowski, T., Mueller, G. A., Chapman, M. D., Smith, S. A., Pomés, A., & Chruszcz, M. (2025). Human IgE monoclonal antibodies define two unusual epitopes trapping dog allergen Can f 1 in different conformations. Protein science : a publication of the Protein Society, 34(9), e70269. https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.70269

Kuhnert, F., Westhoff, P., Valencia, V., Krüger, S., Vogel, K., Lundquist, P. K., Rosar, C., Goss, T., & Weber, A. P. M. (2025). RETICULATA1 is a plastid-localized basic amino acid transporter. Nature plants, 10.1038/s41477-025-02080-z. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-025-02080-z

Moran, J. J., Ilhardt, P. D., Couvillion, S. P., Lipton, M. S., Metz, T. O., Tolic, N., Bryant, D. A., & Ward, D. M. (2025). Mid-day photomixotrophy by Roseiflexus spp. and implications for the 13C content of hot spring cyanobacterial mats. Applied and environmental microbiology, e0090925. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.00909-25

Saldivar, E. V., Field, S., & Rhee, S. Y. (2025). Cellular view of metabolism: metabolic biomolecular condensates. The New phytologist, 10.1111/nph.70474. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.70474

Wang, Y., Song, S., Zhang, W., Deng, Q., Feng, Y., Tao, M., Kang, M., Zhang, Q., Yang, L., Wang, X., Zhu, C., Wang, X., Zhu, W., Zhu, Y., Cao, P., Chen, J., Pan, J., Feng, S., Chen, X., Dai, H., … Pan, R. (2025). Deciphering phenylalanine-derived salicylic acid biosynthesis in plants. Nature, 645(8079), 208–217. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09280-9

 

 

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College of Natural Science | BMB Weekly | Vol. 58, No.35