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K-State Today

Division of Communications and Marketing
Kansas State University
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Manhattan, KS 66506
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February 20, 2024

Sanju Sanjaya to present Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Seminar

Submitted by Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics

Sanju Sanjaya, director the of Biology and Agricultural and Environmental Research Station at West Virginia State University, will be the featured speaker for this week's Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Seminar. Sanjaya will present "Molecular Mechanisms of Heavy Metal Stress Tolerance in Plants" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21, in Room of 120 Ackert Hall.

Acclimation to dynamically changing environmental conditions — such as heavy metal stress — is critical for plant growth, development and survival. A freshwater aquatic angiosperm Duckweed — Spirodela polyrhiza — grows directly in water and has distinct responses to heavy-metal stress. One essential stage of acclimation to adverse conditions involves membrane lipid remodeling and the sequestration of toxic lipid intermediates from damaged membranes into neutral lipids. Sanjaya will discuss how plantlets accumulate metabolites, including lipids and carbohydrates, under heavy metal stress and how the gene networks mediate this response based on S. polyrhiza and Arabidopsis findings.