Updated June 15, 2016
Basil Nikolau was an invited speaker at the International Symposium on Lipids Science and Health held May 26-27 at the Oil Crops Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science (CAAS) in Wuhan, China. Read more about Nikolau presents at international lipids symposium
The Nikolau group article titled "Reverse genetic analysis of the two biotin-containing subunit genes of the heteromeric acetyl-CoA carboxylase in Arabidopsis thaliana indicates a unidirectional functional redundancy" was published last month in Plant Physiology, and is available here. Congratulations to authors Xu Li, Hilal Ilarslan, Libuse Brachova, Hui-Rong Qian, Ling Li, Ping Che, Eve Syrkin Wurtele and Basil Nikolau! Read more about Plant Physiology article published
The National Science Foundation (NSF) and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) have awarded a "Metabolomics for a Low Carbon Society” Program grant to an international group of researchers headed by Lloyd W. Sumner of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and Kazuki Saito of the RIKEN Plant Science Center. ISU’s Basil Nikolau is a co-PI on the project, which will characterize metabolites related to plant biomass and oil production. This is one of four projects funded under the first program ever fully jointly coordinated by NSF and JST. Read more about NSF-JST award
Congratulations to Geng Ding, Ping Che, Hilal Ilarslan, Eve Syrkin Wurtele and Basil Nikolau on their new Plant Journal article, "Genetic dissection of methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase indicates a complex role for mitochondrial leucine catabolism during seed development and germination." Read more about New Plant Journal article
A team made up of Basil Nikolau (PI), Shivani Garg (entrepreneurial lead) and Peter Keeling (mentor) recently learned that they have been selected for an Innovation Corps (I-Corps) grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
I-Corps' purpose is to "bring together the technological, entrepreneurial, and business know-how to bring discoveries ripe for innovation out of the university lab." Read more about NSF awards I-Corps grant to Nikolau team
Congratulations to Huanan Jin and Basil Nikolau, whose article "The role of genetic redundancy in polyhydroxyalkanoate Polymerases (PHA) in PHA biosynthesis in Rhodospirillum rubrum" is scheduled to appear in issue 20 of the Journal of Bacteriology. Read more about Journal of Bacteriology publication
The Nikolau lab hosted a record number of REU students this summer. Congratulations to Mericia Boutchee, Riley Brien, Reid Claussen, Colin Hueser, Ray Liu, Sara Pederson, Thomas Pires, Yiqun Qiu, Joshua Scaralia and Ryan Wissman on a job well done! And special thanks to REU mentors Libuse Brachova, Alexis Campbell, Jennifer Chmielowski, Fuyuan Jing, Luda Rizshsky, Jennifer Robinson, Lucas Showman and Zhihong Song. Read more about Busy REU summer
Nikolau Research Group members Alexis Campbell, Xin Guan, Lucas Showman and Basil Nikolau spent the past week participating in the NSF-JST Workshop at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, OK. NSF-JST is a joint program between the National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Agency whose purpose is to study metabolomics for a low carbon society.
The article "Medicinal Plants: A public resource for metabolomics and hypothesis development" has been accepted and will appear soon in the online journal Metabolites [publication link updated 12/2/12]. Congratulations to authors Eve Syrkin Wurtele, Joe Chappell, A. Daniel Jones, Mary Dawn Celiz, Nick Ransom, Manhoi Hur, Ludmila Rizshsky, Phillip Dixon, Jia Liu, Mark P. Widrlechner and Basil J. Nikolau. Read more about Metabolites journal publication
On April 22, fourteen REU students who spent spring 2013 semester in the Nikolau lab presented a special seminar program on Fats and Oils. The seminar was the capstone of the students' participation in BBMB 490.
The presentation project was patterned after the article "Journal club as a supplement to the undergraduate biochemistry laboratory" by Mona Hall and Adele J. Wolfson, Biochem Educ. 2000 Mar 1;28(2):71-73. Read more about REU students present special seminar
