Cheryl Kerfeld

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Cheryl Ann Kerfeld
Cheryl-kerfeld.jpg
Cheryl Kerfeld
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles (PhD)
University of Minnesota
Scientific career
InstitutionsMichigan State University
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
ThesisBiochemical and structural characterization of proteins involved in photosynthesis : the pigment proteins of Chromatium purpuratum and cytochrome c6 of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (1993)
WebsiteKerfeld Lab

Cheryl Ann Kerfeld is an American bioengineer who is Hannah Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. She holds a joint position at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Her research considers bioinformatics, cellular imaging and structural biology.

Education[]

Kerfeld majored in Biology and English Literature at the University of Minnesota, graduating cum laude and with the Captain Jennings DeWitt Payne award for excellence in literary studies.  While a Junior Scientist in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Microbiology, she completed a Master’s Degree in English[1] through the Regents’ Scholars program. Kerfeld obtained her PhD in Biology at UCLA, focusing on the light harvesting complex of purple sulfur bacteria.  After finishing her doctorate, Kerfeld was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellowship with which she continued research in the Department of Biochemistry at UCLA.

Career[]

Kerfeld and Markus Sutter remove a puck containing crystallized proteins at Berkeley Lab's Advanced Light Source in 2017.

Curriculum Development for Undergraduate Education[]

After completing her Postdoctoral studies, Kerfeld continued research on photoprotection and carboxysomes while an Academic Administrator in Science Initiatives for UCLA’s Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education. There, she developed an undergraduate curriculum that incorporated research experience, including the Undergraduate Genomics Research Initiative. In 2007 Kerfeld joined the US Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, part of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), to establish the Genomics and Bioinformatics Education Program.  This included the development of a web-based platform for implementing bioinformatics into undergraduate courses and research projects. Over 350 faculty were mentored through this Program. These efforts were recognized nationally, including the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education in 2011.[2]

Research[]

While primarily focusing on bioinformatics education for the JGI, Kerfeld was an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley and continued to build a research program in Bacterial Microcompartments and Carotenoid Proteins.  She also led the first large scale genome sequencing project for the Phylum Cyanobacteria, a collaboration between the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and the Pasteur Culture Collection of Paris France.

In 2013 Kerfeld shifted focus fully to research, becoming the Hannah Distinguished Professor of Structural Bioengineering at Michigan State University while retaining her laboratory in Berkeley with appointments in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division and the Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology Division at LBNL. Her research has focused on two main areas; Bacterial Microcompartments, metabolic organelles found in bacteria, and the structure and function of modular carotenoid-binding proteins are involved in the mediation of cyanobacterial photoprotection.[3] Key discoveries include the identification of new families of carotenoid-binding[4][5][6] proteins,[7][8] the light activated translocation of the carotenoid molecule in the Orange Carotenoid Protein, the structure of intact Bacterial Microcompartment shells,[9][10][11][12][13] and the use of comprehensive bioinformatic studies to reveal the functional diversity of Bacterial Microcompartments (PLOS Computational Biology Top 10%[14][15]). Her fundamental research provides the foundation for bioengineering,  including protein-based assemblies for use in metabolic engineering,[16][17] nanomedicine[18]  and next-generation biomaterials.

At Michigan State Kerfeld leads one of three programmatic thrust areas for the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, “Characterizing and Engineering Cellular and Subcellular Modules for Photosynthetic Productivity". In 2019, Kerfeld became the lead of a National Science Foundation research program that looks to engineer a synthetic cell without lipids.[19][20] The fabrication of such a cell requires input from several scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology and materials science. In particular, it looks to understand whether lipids are necessary for cellular development and function. Beyond academia, synthetic cell factories are used for the production of solar fuels (i.e. photobiological hydrogen) and jet fuel.[21] Synthetic, lipid-free cells could allow for the engineering of cells based on only the desirable macromolecules, making it more simple to recover useful products.

Throughout her academic career Kerfeld has continued an active interest in the arts and humanities, writing book and art reviews for the Minnesota Daily, the LA Village View, the San Diego Union Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle and PLOS Biology[22][23]. She also collaborates with artists, art educators and philosophers.  

Awards and honors[]

Selected publications[]

  • Appel, Aaron M.; Bercaw, John E.; Bocarsly, Andrew B.; Dobbek, Holger; DuBois, Daniel L.; Dupuis, Michel; Ferry, James G.; Fujita, Etsuko; Hille, Russ; Kenis, Paul J. A.; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2013-06-14). "Frontiers, Opportunities, and Challenges in Biochemical and Chemical Catalysis of CO2 Fixation". Chemical Reviews. 113 (8): 6621–6658. doi:10.1021/cr300463y. ISSN 0009-2665. PMC 3895110. PMID 23767781.
  • Axen, S., Erbilgin, O and Kerfeld, C.A. A taxonomy of bacterial microcompartment loci constructed by a novel scoring method.  PLoS Computational Biology 10(10):e1003898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003898, 2014.
  • Kerfeld, C.A., Aussignargues, C., Zarzycki, J., Cai, F., Sutter, M.  Bacterial Microcompartments.  Nature Reviews Microbiology 16(5):277-290, 2018.
  • Kerfeld C.A. and Sutter, M. Engineered bacterial microcompartments: apps for programming metabolism.  Current Opinion in Biotechnology 65: 225-232, 2020.
  • Leverenz, R.L., Sutter, M.  Wilson, A., Gupta, S., Thurotte, A., Bouncier de Carbon, C. Perreau, F., Petzold, C.J., Ralston, C., Kirilovsky, D. and Kerfeld, C.A.  A carotenoid translocation activates photoprotection in cyanobacteria. Science 348: 1463-1466, 2015.
  • Shih, Patrick M.; Wu, Dongying; Latifi, Amel; Axen, Seth D.; Fewer, David P.; Talla, Emmanuel; Calteau, Alexandra; Cai, Fei; Marsac, Nicole Tandeau de; Rippka, Rosmarie; Herdman, Michael (2013-01-15). "Improving the coverage of the cyanobacterial phylum using diversity-driven genome sequencing". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (3): 1053–1058. Bibcode:2013PNAS..110.1053S. doi:10.1073/pnas.1217107110. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3549136. PMID 23277585.
  • Sutter, M., Greber, B., Aussignargues, C., Kerfeld, C.A. Assembly principles and structure of a 6.5 MDa bacterial microcompartment shell.  Science 356, 1293-1297, 2017.
  • Wu, Dongying; Hugenholtz, Philip; Mavromatis, Konstantinos; Pukall, Rüdiger; Dalin, Eileen; Ivanova, Natalia N.; Kunin, Victor; Goodwin, Lynne; Wu, Martin; Tindall, Brian J.; Hooper, Sean D. (2009-12-24). "A phylogeny-driven genomic encyclopaedia of Bacteria and Archaea". Nature. 462 (7276): 1056–1060. Bibcode:2009Natur.462.1056W. doi:10.1038/nature08656. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 3073058. PMID 20033048.

References[]

  1. ^ "Cheryl A. Kerfeld". bmb.natsci.msu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  2. ^ "US Department of Energy programs leader wins education award". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  3. ^ "Cheryl Kerfeld". Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. 2017-11-14. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  4. ^ Melnicki, Matthew R.; Leverenz, Ryan L.; Sutter, Markus; López-Igual, Rocío; Wilson, Adjélé; Pawlowski, Emily G.; Perreau, François; Kirilovsky, Diana; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2016-10-10). "Structure, Diversity, and Evolution of a New Family of Soluble Carotenoid-Binding Proteins in Cyanobacteria". Molecular Plant. 9 (10): 1379–1394. doi:10.1016/j.molp.2016.06.009. ISSN 1752-9867. PMID 27392608.
  5. ^ Bao, Han; Melnicki, Matthew R.; Pawlowski, Emily G.; Sutter, Markus; Agostoni, Marco; Lechno-Yossef, Sigal; Cai, Fei; Montgomery, Beronda L.; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2017-07-10). "Additional families of orange carotenoid proteins in the photoprotective system of cyanobacteria". Nature Plants. 3 (8): 17089. doi:10.1038/nplants.2017.89. ISSN 2055-0278. PMID 28692021. S2CID 25263965.
  6. ^ Dominguez-Martin, Maria Agustina; Hammel, Michal; Gupta, Sayan; Lechno-Yossef, Sigal; Sutter, Markus; Rosenberg, Daniel J.; Chen, Yan; Petzold, Christopher J.; Ralston, Corie Y.; Polívka, Tomáš; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2020-09-23). "Structural analysis of a new carotenoid-binding protein: the C-terminal domain homolog of the OCP". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 15564. Bibcode:2020NatSR..1015564D. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-72383-y. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 7512017. PMID 32968135.
  7. ^ "New Addition to Family of Light-Responsive Proteins". today.lbl.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  8. ^ lab, By Igor Houwat, Matthew Melnicki; Banner image by Eric Young, Ducat. "Kerfeld lab reveals a new light-responsive protein family". prl.natsci.msu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  9. ^ "Principles of Systems Biology, No. 19". Cell Systems. 5 (1): 2–5. 2017-07-26. doi:10.1016/j.cels.2017.07.002. ISSN 2405-4712. PMID 28750196.
  10. ^ "A Bacterial Jigsaw Puzzle Is Solved". ALS. 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  11. ^ "Bacterial organizational complexities revealed". www.bionity.com. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  12. ^ Greber, Basil J.; Sutter, Markus; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2019-05-07). "The Plasticity of Molecular Interactions Governs Bacterial Microcompartment Shell Assembly". Structure (London, England: 1993). 27 (5): 749–763.e4. doi:10.1016/j.str.2019.01.017. ISSN 1878-4186. PMC 6506404. PMID 30833088.
  13. ^ Sutter, Markus; Laughlin, Thomas G.; Sloan, Nancy B.; Serwas, Daniel; Davies, Karen M.; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (November 2019). "Structure of a Synthetic β-Carboxysome Shell". Plant Physiology. 181 (3): 1050–1058. doi:10.1104/pp.19.00885. ISSN 1532-2548. PMC 6836842. PMID 31501298.
  14. ^ Asija, Kunica; Sutter, Markus; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2021). "A Survey of Bacterial Microcompartment Distribution in the Human Microbiome". Frontiers in Microbiology. 12: 669024. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2021.669024. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 8156839. PMID 34054778.
  15. ^ Axen, Seth D.; Erbilgin, Onur; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2014-10-23). "A Taxonomy of Bacterial Microcompartment Loci Constructed by a Novel Scoring Method". PLOS Computational Biology. 10 (10): e1003898. Bibcode:2014PLSCB..10E3898A. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003898. ISSN 1553-7358. PMC 4207490. PMID 25340524.
  16. ^ Ferlez, Bryan; Sutter, Markus; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (July 2019). "A designed bacterial microcompartment shell with tunable composition and precision cargo loading". Metabolic Engineering. 54: 286–291. doi:10.1016/j.ymben.2019.04.011. ISSN 1096-7184. PMC 6884132. PMID 31075444.
  17. ^ Kerfeld, Cheryl A.; Sutter, Markus (October 2020). "Engineered bacterial microcompartments: apps for programming metabolism". Current Opinion in Biotechnology. 65: 225–232. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2020.05.001. ISSN 1879-0429. PMC 7719235. PMID 32554213.
  18. ^ Kirst, Henning; Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2019-10-10). "Bacterial microcompartments: catalysis-enhancing metabolic modules for next generation metabolic and biomedical engineering". BMC Biology. 17 (1): 79. doi:10.1186/s12915-019-0691-z. ISSN 1741-7007. PMC 6787980. PMID 31601225.
  19. ^ Communications, By Sarah Zwickle, writer, NatSci. "Unlikely gathering of scientists generates extraordinary research team, idea - the fat free cell". prl.natsci.msu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  20. ^ "NSF's 10 Big Ideas - Special Report | NSF - National Science Foundation". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  21. ^ "Algal Cell Factories | Synthetic Genomics, Inc". syntheticgenomics.com. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  22. ^ Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2009-05-19). "When Art, Science, and Culture Commingle". PLOS Biology. 7 (5): e1000100. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000100. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 2700620.
  23. ^ Kerfeld, Cheryl A. (2011-02-22). "Physics Incarnate". PLOS Biology. 9 (2): e1001022. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001022. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 3043078.
  24. ^ "Professor Wins Award". UC Berkeley Rausser College of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  25. ^ "US Department of Energy programs leader wins education award". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  26. ^ "ASBMB Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  27. ^ "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2019 Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  28. ^ Houwat, By Aliyah Kovner (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and Igor. "Cheryl Kerfeld named AAAS Fellow". prl.natsci.msu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
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