Maps, Traffic and Traffic Lights:
A Cellular Perspective

Dr. Ganesh Sriram
Keystone Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Maryland
gsriram@umd.edu
http://openwetware.org/wiki/Sriram_Lab

Recent developments in metabolic engineering and systems biology enable the accurate determination of metabolic network maps, the traffic in them and the regulatory motifs (traffic lights) that underlie them. This presentation will discuss applications of these techniques to photosynthetic organisms including plants, trees and algae. These organisms are not only crucial toward the development of a sustainable economy but also fascinating to study because of their unusual biological networks. I will first present advances made by our lab in isotope-assisted metabolic flux analysis (isotope MFA), including computational design of isotope labeling experiments and improved methods for bookkeeping labeling states. Next, I will discuss the use of isotope MFA to: (i) analyze the effect of light on carbon traffic in cell suspensions of the plant Arabidopsis and (ii) trace the path of CO2 through central carbon metabolism in a photosynthetically efficient alga. Finally, I will present our work on developing a platform to study nitrogen cycling in (the tree) poplar.


(Refreshments in lobby @ 3:00)

Location:	VBI Conference Center
Price:	free
Sponsor:	Biological Systems Engineering Department
Contact:	Dr. Justin Barone jbarone@vt.edu (540) 231-0680
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