Dr. Wim Vermaas, whose research team is leading a $5.2 million Department of Energy grant to develop an organism that could produce renewable bioenergy, will discuss his work at a bioenergy seminar from 4 to 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26, at UALR’s EIT auditorium in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Science (EIT).

The seminar, sponsored by National Science Foundation EPSCoR P3 Center, will discuss Vermaas’ work in the molecular biology and cell physiology of cyanobacteria, an organism that lacks a cell nucleus. It’s title: “Cyanobacteria: A journey from photosynthesis to biofuel applications.”

A frequent keynote speaker for various bioenergy forums/congresses, Vermaas is foundation professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University.  He earned his doctorate in 1984 from the Agricultural University in Wageningen, the Netherlands and he is fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

His research over the years has focused on the molecular biology and cell physiology of cyanobacteria, an ancient group of photosynthetic unicellular microorganisms that lack a distinct nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. The cyanobacterium Synechocystis is particularly interesting because its genome has been sequenced. It is spontaneously transformable and integrates DNA into its genome by homologous recombination, and it can grow in the absence of photosynthesis.

The Vermaas team currently leads a $5.2 million transformative research effort to develop strains of Synechocystis that use sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce and secrete fatty acids for use as renewable raw materials for the biofuels industry.

Vermaas’s team said the organisms essentially become biocatalysts, or mini-factories, producing and secreting feed stocks for harvest without themselves being consumed, much like a cow giving milk.

For more information about the seminar, contact Dr. Qingfang F. He, associate professor of applied science in the UALR College of Science and Mathematics, at 501-569-8033.