Contents of this Issue:
1. Science Highlight —
First Look at Key Enzyme's Assembly
(contacts:
M. Corbett, mccorbett@stanford.edu;
K. O. Hodgson, hodgson@ssrl.slac.stanford.edu;
B. Hedman, hedman@ssrl.slac.stanford.edu)
SSRL and Stanford scientists, in collaboration with a team from UC Irvine, have gotten the first look into how the metal active center of an enzyme that is largely responsible for fertilizing plants is assembled. This enzyme, which is called nitrogenase, certain bacteria employ to turn nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can use for healthy growth. In contrast to the enzymatic reaction, manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer chemically requires extreme pressures and temperatures and thus huge amounts of energy.
The reduction of nitrogen takes place at the enzyme's core, a multicomponent
complex called FeMoco made up of iron, molybdenum and sulfur. FeMoco is built
by an "assembly line" of proteins outside of the enzyme. Researchers at the
University of California, Irvine isolated a precursor to FeMoco bound to one of
the assembly proteins toward the end of this "assembly line". Using x-ray
absorption spectroscopy techniques at SSRL BL9-3, researchers revealed that at
this stage in the assembly of FeMoco, the complex has not yet incorporated
molybdenum atoms. This suggests that the iron core of FeMoco is assembled early
on in the process, and that a simple reaction to add molybdenum is one of the
last steps. This picture of one step in the pathway is the first time anyone
has shown any of the steps in the assembly.
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2. Science Highlight —
In Search of a Mechanism to Combat Multidrug Resistance
(contact:
G. Chang, gchang@scripps.edu)
 |
The structural information revealed by Dr. Chang's ongoing multidrug transporter studies may provide insight into new approaches for combating the global threat of bacterial strains resistant to current antibiotics. This should come as welcome news to the World Health Organization which estimates the current total cost of treating all hospital-borne antibiotic resistant bacterial infections at $10 billion a year.
To learn more about this research published in the December 23, 2005 issue of
Science see:
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/research/highlights_archive/EmrE.html
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/research/highlights_archive/EmrE.pdf
 |
Nineteen reviewers and eight DOE observers spent three days going over the technical cost and schedule aspects of the work planned between now and the end of the Project (March 2009). Drs. Patricia Dehmer and Pedro Montano, of the DOE Basic Energy Sciences Office, attended the entire review.
The review committee was impressed with the strengthening of the LCLS Project staff and the technical progress made in the past year by the LCLS teams at Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and SLAC. The committee also recommended that due emphasis be placed on clearing the way for Turner Construction Company to start earth moving activities in June.
In order to make way for LCLS construction, the Final Focus Test Beam must be
dismantled. Its last run will be completed at 6:00 am, April 10, 2006. This
facility has been an invaluable tool for accelerator research since 1993. More
recently it was modified to serve the Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source, a testbed
for LCLS experiment concepts and a source of exciting scientific results that
can be obtained using an intense source of ultrafast x-ray pulses.
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/jbh/
4. Joint Stanford Berkeley Collaborations Yield
Excellent Scientific Results
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Members of the SSRL Proposal Review Panel (PRP) met on February 6, 2006. At
this meeting Jo Stöhr gave the committee an update on recent developments
including the SSRL organizational structure, SPEAR operations, budget, beam
line status and upgrades, management actions and future new beam lines.
SSRLUOEC Chair Joy Andrews (CSUEB) discussed recent activities by the SSRL
Users' Organization Executive Committee. Cathy Knotts wrapped up the
open-session agenda with an update on user research administration. In the
executive session, the panel provided strategic advice to the SSRL directorate
and determined ratings based on the peer reviews received for the 49 new
proposals submitted during this last call for proposals. The PRP and the new
SSRL Scientific Advisory Panel Members will meet next on July 16-18, 2006.
The SSRL Users' Organization Executive Committee (SSRLUOEC), which represents
the entire SSRL user community, works closely with SSRL/SLAC management on
internal issues of interest to the users as well as externally with other user
organization representatives for such activities as user advocacy, outreach and
education. At the February 13, 2006 SSRLUOEC meeting, updates were presented on
SSRL beam line upgrades, plans for top-up injection, plans for the 33rd annual
SSRL Users' Meeting and workshops, coordinating activities with the SLAC Users'
Organization (SLUO), user administration and communications. Progress in
arranging meetings in Washington in April for representatives of the four DOE
synchrotron users' organizations as well as the neutron facilities was also
discussed. A pamphlet summarizing who we are, what we do, and why basic
sciences and user facilities our important is in preparation. A copy of the
2005 briefing document is available at the American Physical Society website:
The SSRLUOEC members were pleased to report that science, technology and
innovation-based initiatives in the U.S. received more publicity and support in
February, with a recent article in Time, http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1156575,00.html,
and the President's American Competitiveness Initiative. Users are
encouraged to
continue to communicate the need to support basic sciences with their local
elected officials. The SSRLUOEC needs users to be aware of and responsive to
issues important to the user community. We are here to support your needs, so
please contact anyone on the SSRLUOEC with your feedback, suggestions, or
questions. We look forward to seeing you at the next SSRLUOEC meeting on April
17, as well as the annual meeting to be held on October 12-13, 2006.
Nanoanalysis Workshop, July 10-11, 2006, ETH Zentrum, Zurich, Switzerland: The
CEAC (Center of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry), the organisations optETH
and the Micro and Nano Science Platform from ETH Zurich, are organizing a joint
Workshop on nanoscale analysis: properties of individual wires, layers, atomic
and molecular structures, to be held July 10-11. Keynote speakers include:
Alfred Benninghoven, IHK Nord Westfalen, Münster, Deutschland; Satoshi Kawata,
Osaka University, Japan; Robert J. Hamers, University of Wisconsin Madison,
USA; Seizo Morita, Osaka University, Japan; Joachim Stöhr, SSRL/Stanford, USA;
and Eduard Arzt, Max-Planck-Institute for Metals Res., Stuttgart, Deutschland.
This 2-day workshop provides a platform for information exchange and discussion
between nanoscale scientists and nanotechnologists together with experts in
state-of-the-art analytical methods. Current challenges and novel solutions are
discussed in view of the evolving capabilities and requirements for physical
and chemical analysis on the nanometer scale. The workshop aims to identify and
discuss future robust analytical methodologies for the nanoworld.
http://www.ceac.ethz.ch
33rd Annual SSRL Users' Meeting & Workshops, October 11-13, 2006, Menlo Park,
CA: The 2006 Users' Meeting will be chaired by Chris Kim (Chapman University)
and Aaron Lindenberg (SSRL). The meeting will likely follow the format of
various sessions around techniques and disciplines, a young investigators
session, and a poster session as well as various workshops. Please contact
Chris or Aaron with your suggestions for session topics, speakers or ideas for
workshops that could include current or future capabilities at SSRL. Workshops
on areas of mutual interest could also be conducted jointly with the ALS Users'
Meeting.
Lightsources.org, the only Web site to comprehensively feature news,
information and educational materials about all the world's synchrotron
radiation and free electron laser facilities, celebrated its first anniversary
in February 2006. Sponsored by 21 of the world's major light sources, this site
is updated daily and serves as a clearing house for information on all the
world's light sources, featuring news, proposal deadlines, a calendar of
upcoming user meetings and scientific conferences, and job opportunities, as
well as a wealth of helpful links to resources of all kinds. A newsflash
service offers immediate updates via email as soon as news relevant to light
sources is released to the public. To subscribe to the lightsources.org News
Flash email list, please visit: http://www.lightsources.org/subscribe/
Through the past year, lightsources.org has grown significantly in content and
traffic. More than 150 press releases and over 600 synchrotron-related press
items have been listed on the Web site and distributed to subscribers--via
email and RSS. Web traffic is continually increasing and is now averaging over
100,000 page views/month. Lightsources.org maintains an archive of press
coverage--by member facility, topic and date. The top synchrotron news from
2005 (based on press coverage) includes the work on the Archimedes Palimpsest,
Beethoven's lead poisoning, and antibiotic resistance; for more details visit:
http://www.lightsources.org/topnews/
The next deadline for submitting new Macromolecular Crystallography proposals
is April 1; new X-ray and VUV proposals are due by May 1. For more information
on the proposal submittal, review and scheduling process, visit:
A number of positions are currently available at LCLS and SSRL. Please refer
to the Photon Science Job Openings page at for more information about these job
opportunities.
__________________________________________________________________________
SSRL Headlines is published electronically monthly to inform SSRL users,
sponsors and other interested people about happenings at SSRL. SSRL is a
national synchrotron user facility operated by Stanford University for the
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy
Sciences. Additional support for
the structural biology program is provided by
the DOE
Office of Biological and Environmental Research, the NIH
National Center for Research Resources and the NIH Institute for General Medical
Sciences. Additional information about
SSRL and its operation and schedules is available from the SSRL WWW
site.
__________________________________________________________________________
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5. SSRL's Proposal Review Panel Convenes
(contact: J. Stöhr, stohr@ssrl.slac.stanford.edu)
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/prp.html
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/ssrl_sac.html
6.
SSRL Users' Organization Executive Committee Met on February 13
(contact: J. Andrews, andrews@csueastbay.edu)
http://www.aps.org/public_affairs/issues/coalitions/esc/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=71775
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/users/ssrluo/ssrluoec-mtgs.html
7.
Upcoming Public Lecture, Meetings, Conferences, Workshops
Public Lecture on
Arsenic: The Silent Killer, February 28, 2006, SLAC, Menlo
Park, CA: In this presentation Dr. Andrea Foster (USGS) will review the long
and complicated history with arsenic, describe how x-rays have helped explain
the high yet spatially variable arsenic concentrations in Bangladesh, discuss
the ways in which land use in Bangladesh may be exacerbating the problem and
summarize the impact of this silent killer on drinking water systems worldwide.
http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/lectures/info_2006/2006_02_28.htm
Workshop on
Synchrotron X-ray Scattering Techniques in Materials and
Environmental Sciences: Theory and Application, May 16-17, 2006, SSRL/SLAC,
Menlo Park, CA: Modern synchrotron-based X-ray scattering (SR-XRS) techniques
offer the ability to probe nano- and atomic-scale structures and order/disorder
relationships that critically govern the properties of advanced technological
and environmental materials. The high collimation, intensity, and tunability of
SR allow the investigation of a wide range of materials, including thin films
and interfaces, nanoparticles, amorphous materials, solutions, hydrated and
disordered bacteriogenic minerals and highly crystalline materials. Good
planning and a working knowledge of beam lines, in addition to technique, are
keys to conducting successful SR-XRS measurements. This workshop will provide
a practical users' guide to planning and conducting scattering measurements and
will emphasize topics that best be obtained only through on-the-experiment
training. Space is limited; register at:
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/conferences/workshops/scatter2006/index.php
XAFS13, July 9-14, 2006, Stanford, CA: The 13th International
Conference on
X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS13) constitutes an international
conference series held every three years. The last two XAFS conferences took
place in Malmö, Sweden (2003) and Ako, Japan (2000). The scope of the
conference is X-ray Absorption Fine Structure and related topics. Many
techniques and the theory focusing on XAFS-related phenomena will be covered,
as will applications to a wide range of scientific areas. Submit scientific
abstracts by March 15; early registration for XAFS 13 ends May 1.
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/xafs13
8. Lightsources.org Celebrates Its First
Year Online
(contact:
C. Knotts, knotts@slac.stanford.edu)
9. User Administration Update
(contacts:
C. Knotts, knotts@slac.stanford.edu;
L. Dunn, lisa@slac.stanford.edu)
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/users/user_admin/guide.html
http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/photonscience/jobs.html
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