CHE 598 Seminar: Lignin Biomodification Toward Enhancing The Bioeconomy

About the event

SPEAKER: Dr. Laura Bartley, Institute of Biological Chemistry, WSU

BIOGRAPHY:

Dr. Laura Bartley is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Biological Chemistry at Washington State University. She   relocated to WSU in July of 2020 after serving as Visiting Associate Professor at Kyoto University in 2019-2020 and as an Assistant and then Associate Professor  at the University of Oklahoma, from 2010-2019. Prior to starting her own lab, she earned her B.A. in Biology from Swarthmore College, her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stanford University, served as a AAAS Science Policy Fellow at the USDA, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California at Davis and the Joint BioEnergy Institute. Toward improving plants, especially grasses, for biorefining, Bartley’s lab group uses molecular genetics, systems biology, and biochemistry to examine grass-diverged aspects of cell wall biosynthesis and regulation, root and shoot vegetative development, and the impact of cell wall changes on plant physiology. Dr. Bartley’s research has been funded by the US-DOE, USDA, and US-NSF.

ABSTRACT:

The cell walls of plants are the most abundant source of aromatics on earth; however, challenges remain for the industrial use of plant biomass as a source of aromatic and chemical feedstocks. Hydroxycinnamates are aromatic acids that are added to grass cell walls by specific enzymes. Their attachment via ester bonds means that hydroxycinnamates are easier to liberate relative to other aromatics. This talk will discuss recent advances in understanding how hydroxycinnamates alter cell wall properties in native and non-native biological contexts and the implications for (bio)refining.