Biological and Environmental Sciences Directorate
2003 Research Highlights
Synthesis of Two-and Three-Dimensional Silica Nanoparticle Arrays and Photonic Crystals
Name
of Contact: Baohua Gu, gub1@ornl.gov,
865-574-7286
Sponsor: DOE-SC Office of Basic Energy Sciences (B&R Code
KC 03 02 04 0)
Highly monodispersesilica nanoparticles synthesized and characterized for their interface and photonic characteristics.
Nanoparticles self-assemble to form three-dimensional crystalline colloidal arrays (CCAs) in water.
For the first time, silica CCAs found to diffract light in the near infrared spectral region.
Potential applications: biological probes, sensors and photonic materials such as tunable optical filters and photonic band gap materials.
To print a PDF click here (pdf)
Detection of TNT via Deflagration on a Microcantilever
Contact:
Thomas Thundat, thundattg@ornl.gov,
574-6204 and Lal Pinnaduwage, pinnaduwagla@ornl.gov,
574-6540
Sponsor: Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland
Security
- Results published in Nature (October 2, 2003)
- Press coverage in national and international media
- Confirmation inherent in the detection technique
- Detection limit ≤70 programs, with potential for 3 order of magnitude reduction
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Biometric and eddy-covariance based estimates of annual carbon storage in five eastern North American deciduous forests
Contact:
P.J. Hanson, hansonpj@ornl.gov,
865-574-5361
Sponsor: DOE/OBER (B&R code KP 12 03 01 0)
Accurate estimates of carbon uptake (sequestration) by natural ecosystems are needed as inputs to defensible carbon budgets for North America
Tower-based micrometeorological data provides high quality short-term data but is subject to errors of integration. Comparisons with traditional methods are needed to constrain ecosystem C uptake estimates
Both approaches show deciduous forest C uptake ranging from 1.8 to 3.2 Mg C ha-1y-1 with no systematic difference among methodologies
Understanding forest C uptake is a prerequisite demanded by stakeholders for input into possible environmental management plans for managing greenhouse gases
Biometric and eddy-covariance based estimates of annual carbon storage in five eastern North American deciduous forests
Contact:
P.J. Hanson, hansonpj@ornl.gov,
865-574-5361
Sponsor: DOE/OBER (B&R code KP 12 03 01 0)
Quantifying net carbon (C) storage by forests is a necessary step in the validation of carbon sequestration estimates and in assessing the possible role of these ecosystemsin offsetting fossil fuel emissions. In eastern North America, five sites were established in deciduous forests to provide measurements of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) using micro-meteorological methods, and measures of major carbon pools and fluxes, using a combination of forest mensurational, eco-physiological, and other biometric methods. The five study sites, part of the AmeriFlux network, ranged across 10° of latitude and 18° of longitude, but were all of similar age, canopy height, and stand basal area. Here we present a cross-site synthesis of annual carbon storage estimates, comparing meteorological and biometric approaches, and also comparing biometric estimates based on analyses of autotrophic carbon pools and heterotrophic carbon fluxes (net ecosystem production, NEP) versus those based on measurements of change in two major carbon pools (∆C). Annual above-ground net primary production varied nearly two-fold among sites and was strongly correlated with average annualtemperature and with annual soil nitrogen mineralization (Nmin). Estimates of NEP ranged from 1.1 Mg C ha-1yr-1 in northern Wisconsin to 3.5 Mg C ha-1yr-1 in central Indiana, and were also well correlated with Nmin. There was less variation among sites in estimates of ∆C (range, 1.8 –3.2 Mg C ha-1yr-1). In general, ∆C more closely matched NEE than did NEP, but there was no systematic pattern among sites in over-versus under-estimation of the biometric compared to the meteorologically based measures. Root and soil carbon dynamics were significant sources of uncertainty in our biometric measures and represent a prerequisite area of study needed for accurate estimates of forest carbon storage. Curtis PS, Hanson PJ, Bolstad P, Barford C, Randolph JC, Schmid HP, Wilson KB (2002) Biometric and eddy-covariance based estimates of annual carbon storage in five eastern North American deciduous forests. Agric For Meteorol113:3-19.
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Thundat
Presented Pioneer Award
Name of Contact: Thomas Thundat; thundattg@ornl.gov;
865-574-6201
Thomas
Thundat was presented the Pioneer Award by the Nanotechnology Institute
of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) at the Nanomechanics:
Sensors and Actuators Workshop in Reno, Nevada, on May 19, 2004.
The award was resented in celebration of the 10-year anniversary of molecular recognition with micro- and nanocantilevers.
Thundat was cited “for pioneering this field of nanomechanics, which promises to impact the health, wealth, and safety of mankind.”
Thundat, head of the Nanoscale Science and Devices Group in ORNL’s Life Sciences Division, published his first paper on microcantilever sensors in May 1994.
Contact: Thomas Thundat; thundattg@ornl.gov; 865-574-6201.
To print a PDF click here (pdf)
26th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals
Name
of Contact: Brian Davison; davisonbh@ornl.gov;
865-574-5845
Funding Source: Multiple (including U.S. DOE Office of Biomass Programs,
U.S. Department of Agriculture, ORNL, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory & over 15 companies)
The 26th Symposium on Biotechnology for
Fuels and Chemicals was successfully held on May 9-12, 2004, in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is a series of symposia that focuses
on improving the technology and economics of fuels and chemicals
production.
The symposium provides opportunity for experts from around the world to gather and discuss the lastest research breakthroughs and results in biotechnology.
A variety of formal technical sessions, a poster session, and informal discussion groups allowed the exchange of new information among attendees from industrial, academic, and government sectors.
The symposium was a great success this year with 343 attendees that included 106 international participants from 23 countries, 75 representatives from industry, 60 participants from government and laboratories (including 38 DOE and national laboratory participants and 16 USDA participants), and approximately 50 students.
Primary sponsors for this symposia series include the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Programs, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The next symposium
in the series will be hosted by NREL in 2005 in Golden, Colorado.
Contact: Brian Davison;
Sponsors: Multiple (including U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. DOE Office of Biomass Programs, ORNL, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and 15 other companies)
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New Publications Report Research on Telomerase Function in Dr. Yie Liu's Laboratory in the Mammalian Genetics Group, Life Sciences Division
Contact:Yie Liu, 865-574-5403 or liuy3@ornl.govFunding Source: DOE-OBER (KP14) and ORNL LDRD funds
(1)
Yie Liu, B. Snow, W. Zhou, V. A. Kickhoefer, N. Erdmann, A. Wakeham,
M. Gomez, and L. Harrington, “A vault protein, VPARP, is associated
with mammalian telomerase and is dispensable in telomerase function
and vault structure in vivo,” Molecular and Cellular
Biology, 24(12), June 2004 (in press).
(2) N. Erdmann, Y. Liu, and L. Harrington, “Distinct
dosage requirements for the maintenance of long and short telomeres
in mTert heterozygous mice,” Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, April 2004 (in press).
Telomerase, an enzyme or protein, is essential in maintaining the integrity of the ends of chromosomes (called "telomeres”); disruption of this function during cell division is implicated in human aging, premature aging syndromes, and cancer. In the Molecular and Cellular Biology paper, ORNL and collaborators identified a novel protein to be a key component in the telomerase complex and studied its role in telomerase. In order to study how telomerase works in maintaining telomere, it is critical to know the parts of the telomerase and what they do. However confirming the role of telomerase disruptions in humans is difficult.
In the PNAS paper, ORNL and collaborators at the University of Toronto created a mutant mouse that produces very low amounts of telomerase; these mice suffer premature aging effects, and so mimic a known human inherited disorder that causes premature aging. This exciting work confirms a genetic basis for this human disorder in the telomerase gene and supports the role of telomerase in human aging and cancer.
Contact: Yie
Liu, 865-574-5403 or liuy3@ornl.gov
Funding Source: DOE-OBER (KP14) and ORNL LDRD funds
To print a PDF click here: (pdf)
First Litter of Mice Re-derived from Frozen 8-Cell Embryos Born into New Facility at ORNL
Contact: Dabney Johnson, 865-574-0953 or johnsondk@ornl.govFunding Source: DOE-OBER (KP14)
-
Litter of 9 mouse pups born from frozen embryos at Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics on 4/13/04
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First strain re-derived is 22a, used for mating with mutant stocks; second litter was mutant stock “koala”
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Implanting embryos 3 times a week for foreseeable future to reach a pathogen-free population of 6,000 by end of FY 2004
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First successful litter of mice re-derived from frozen eight-cell embryos born at ORNL’s William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics.
First litter of mice born from frozen eight-cell embryos at ORNL’s William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics. Nine mouse pups were born on Saturday, March 13, 2004, at ORNL’s William L. and Liane B. Russell Laboratory for Comparative and Functional Genomics. This is the first litter to be re-derived from eight-cell frozen embryos, and marks the beginning of rebuilding a pathogen-free mouse colony in the new Russell Lab.
The first mouse strain to be re-derived is known as 22a, a common stock that is used as a mating partner for mutant stocks. The second embryo-derived litter was a mutant strain known as “koala” because its stubby ears resemble those of a koala bear.
The mouse population was allowed to dwindle to zero last year as the biologists in the Life Sciences Division prepared to move their research quarters from the antiquated facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex to their new home on the west campus of ORNL. The old Mouse House at Y-12 was infested with parasites that reduced the quality of research and threatened the facility’s accreditation for animal care. Elaborate measures have been taken to ensure the cleanliness of the new Russell Lab and allow high-quality research.ORNL biologists
will be implanting female mice with embryos about three times a
week for the foreseeable future to rebuild the population. This
will result in seven to ten litters a week. ORNL expects the Russell
Lab mouse population to reach about 6,000 by the end of FY 2004.
58: 292-298 (March 2004).
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Office of Science
P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
Phone: (+1)865.574.4160
Department of Energy