Brian Fox, Chair of the Biochemistry Department at UW–Madison, has received a fellowship from the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study. His six-month residency will begin July 2026.

Scientists with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center used a systems-level approach to study the microbe’s response to hydrolysate produced from switchgrass treated with a process called ammonia fiber expansion, revealing the hydrolysate triggers a complex stress response in Zymomonas mobilis, causing changes in the membrane that controls what enters and exits the cell as well as how the microbe digests carbon in the plant sugars.

Wisconet was shortlisted for a Global Hydromet Excellence Award for Best Application of GIS in Meteorology and Climate Services, recognizing the quality of its website and online tools.

Making fuels and other products from plants requires treating the plant fibers to break apart sugars and other parts of the plant cell wall. The leftover liquid (or liquor) from the process must be treated to remove hazardous compounds before it can be safely thrown away. Therefore researchers have explored reusing spent liquor or extracting the organic compounds for use as fuels or industrial chemicals. Here, researchers identified phenolic compounds, a group of ring-shaped aromatic molecules, in spent liquor from a pretreatment process using ammonia dissolved in water.

The Science    

Plant cell walls are made of three main polymers, or long chains of molecules: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose are sugars that can be converted into biofuels.

Two WEI researchers explain the connection between gene editing and clean energy in plain-language essays about their work — one with plants, the other with microbes.

WEI investigator Jean-Michele Ane uses the Hancock Agricultural Research Station to study varieties of corn that pull nitrogen from the air, forgoing the need for expensive and environmentally damaging fertilizers.