Faculty

Director, Professor
jw.peters@wsu.edu
(509) 335-3412
Clark 287, Pullman

• Functional and structural examinations of enzymatic reduction processes, including nitrogenase, hydrogenase, and acetone carboxylase;
• structural and mechanistic features of electron bifurcation;
• influence of soil microbial communities on nitrogen fixation affecting crop growth

Charlotte Y. Martin Distinguished Professor & Regents Professor
jab@wsu.edu
(509) 335-2293
Clark 443A, Pullman

• Lipid and membrane biochemistry;
• pathways and regulation of lipid synthesis and membrane formation in higher plants;
• jasmonate hormone;
• chilling and freezing tolerance in plants

Professor & Director of the Tissue Imaging and Proteomics Laboratory
gangd@wsu.edu
(509) 335-0550
Clark 385, Pullman

• Evolution of metabolism;
• medicinal plants, such as ginger, turmeric, Huperziaceae and Lamiaceae;
• development of rhizomes;
• application of omics tools (metabolomics, proteomics, transcriptomics) to investigate the structure, regulation and control of metabolism in individual cell types such as trichomes and specialized organs such as plant rhizomes;
• application of imaging mass spectrometry in agricultural and biomedical research

Professor
kahn@wsu.edu
(509) 335-8327
Clark 203, Pullman

• Interaction between plant and bacterial metabolism to support symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes;
• plant and bacterial differentiation during root nodule formation;
• signaling and resistance mechanisms operating during the initiation of root nodule formation;
• advanced methods in bacterial genetics

Helmut Kirchhoff

Associate Professor & Phenomics Center Coordinator
kirchhh@wsu.edu
(509) 335-3304
Clark 427A, Pullman

• Architecture of photosynthetic membranes;
• structure-function relationships on the whole membrane, mesoscopic and molecular levels;
• dynamics of the photosynthetic apparatus in response to environmental changes;
• protein repair and regulation of electron transport and light harvesting

Professor & Co-Director of the M.J. Murdock Metabolomics Laboratory Service Center
lange-m@wsu.edu
(509) 335-3794
Clark 341, Pullman

• Biosynthesis of natural products in medicinal and aromatic plants;
• enzyme structure-function relationships in terpenoid biosynthesis;
• development of tools and databases for plant metabolomics

Norman G. Lewis

Arthur M. and Kate Eisig-Tode Distinguished Professor & Regents Professor
lewisn@wsu.edu
(509) 335-2682
Clark 467, Pullman

• Functional characterization of dirigent proteins, and determination of their biochemical diversity in planta;
• biochemistry of natural and medicinal products in plants;
• biochemistry of vascular plant lignified cell walls;
• biochemistry of formation of unique plant constituents in individual cell types;
• effect of gravity on metabolic pathways in plants;
• integrated omics and phenylpropanoid biochemical pathway evolution

Thomas W. Okita

Regents Professor
okita@wsu.edu
(509) 335-3391
Clark 351, Pullman

• Biochemistry of starch synthesis and protein localization;
• metabolic genetic engineering of plants for increased productivity;
• mRNA localization and the role of the cytoskeleton and endoplasmic reticulum

Sanja Roje

Associate Professor
sanja@wsu.edu
(509) 335-3008
Clark 261, Pullman

• Folate metabolism and its relationship to photosynthesis and photorespiration;
• flavin biosynthesis and pathway regulation, role of flavins in symbiotic interactions

Andrei P. Smertenko

Assistant Professor
andrei.smertenko@wsu.edu
(509) 335-5795
Clark 207, Pullman

• Development of novel technologies for phenotyping drought tolerance in crops;
• genetics of cambium proliferation and secondary growth;
• molecular mechanisms of cytokinesis;
• regulation of microtubule dynamics

Research Faculty

Paul S. Hwang

Assistant Research Professor
hwangs@wsu.edu
(509) 335-1090
Clark 383, Pullman

• Plant genome editing;
• metabolic engineering of starch for enhanced plant productivity and yields;
• subcellular mRNA localization in higher plants

WSU-PNNL Adjunct Faculty

 Simone Raugei

WSU-PNNL Joint Appointment
Research Professor
simone.raugei@pnnl.gov
(509) 372-6902
PNNL, MSIN:  K1-83

• Energy transduction in enzymes
• Biophysics
• Catalysis
• Physical Chemistry

WSU-PNNL Joint Appointment
Research Professor
mary.lipton@pnnl.gov
(509) 372-XXXX
PNNL, MSIN:  K8-98

• Relative quantitative determination of changes in protein abundance.
• Determination of protein localization and the determination of temporal changes in protein expression patterns.
• These applications have elucidated important biological processes that play integral roles in microbially mediated bioenergy production, bioremediation, and carbon sequestration. Additionally, the comparison of proteomic data across a variety of microorganisms has allowed the determination of proteins that are necessary for life and those that define the lifestyle of a class of microbes. Such insights will have impact on understanding microbial function across the “Tree of Life” as well as in the emerging field of synthetic biology.