We host five endowed lectures throughout the academic year. Endowed lectures are paid for with private funds invested and held by the Regents of the University.
The Daniel I. Arnon Lecture was established with resources from the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. The endowment also supports graduate students who are designated Arnon Fellows.
The Bob B. Buchanan and Harry Tsujimoto Lectures were established with a generous gift from the K/T (Kase/Tsujimoto) Foundation of San Francisco. The endowment also supports graduate students who are designated "Kase Fellows".
The Taylor-White Lecture is a unique collaboration between Tom White, an entrepreneur, and John Taylor, a professor in the department. Together they performed research and published papers.
The Kustu Lecture is supported by donations from students, faculty and staff who worked with Sydney Kustu, a professor in the department.
Early life on earth leveraged abundant inorganic reducing power to fix carbon dioxide in an anoxic environment via development of quinone- and heme-based electron transport systems that were coupled with bacteriochlorophyll-based photosynthetic reaction centers. With the emergence of oxygenic reaction centers in the first cyanobacteria nearly 3 Gya, these pathways required protection from...
Wednesday February 01, 2023
In this talk, Dr. Newman will explain what "agathokakological" means and how this word can help us understand the varied roles microbially-produced redox active metabolites play in diverse contexts, from the soil to chronic human infections. These compounds, many of which are striking pigments that change color when they are oxidized or reduced, can serve as toxins or as lifelines for the cells...
Wednesday November 02, 2022
The human body is colonized by trillions of microorganisms that exert a profound influence on human biology, in part by providing functional capabilities that extend beyond those of host cells. In particular, there is growing evidence linking chemical processes carried out by the human gut microbiome to diseases such as colorectal cancer. However, we still do not understand the vast majority of...
Wednesday September 07, 2022
Almost two decades ago, karrikins were identified in smoke as germination stimulants of plants that emerge after fire. Karrikins have since been shown to affect many aspects of plant development, putatively because they mimic an unknown endogenous hormone. I will present our current understanding of how karrikins are perceived by plants and how karrikin signaling is attenuated through feedback control mechanisms.
Underground, mycorrhizal fungi form complex networks of filamentous hyphae that connect plant roots. The fungus mobilizes phosphorus and nitrogen, and trades these for host carbon in a market-like exchange. While the ubiquity and importance of underground networks is established, we have no mechanistic understanding of how a fungus evaluates its trade environment. Fungi must integrate a complex...
Wednesday November 03, 2021
