Professor, Biochemistry and Enzymology
Year Started at JMU: 2012
berndsce@jmu.edu
Contact Info
Website: https://ceberndsen.github.io/
Research Description
The Berndsen group takes an atoms to organism approach using computation, biochemical, structural, techniques along with plant biology to understand the structure and function of enzymes involved in starch degradation and related pathways. Frequently, we computationally model the proteins, fit these models to data from X-ray scattering experiments and related techniques, measure the enzyme activity, and observe the phenotype in the plant to construct explanations for how this protein functions and is regulated. The lab team also collaborates with scientists in the MDH CURES community to describe the structure and function of malate dehydrogenases (MDH) from bacteria, pathogens, plants, and humans. This essential enzyme is a major player in central metabolism and appears in a few surprising places, including starch metabolism, which we do not fully understand. We are interested in these “surprise” functions and identifying the many roles of this protein in complex life.
Education
- PhD in Biomolecular Chemistry, 2008, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
- BS in Biochemistry, 2003, Roanoke College, Salem, VA
Select Publications
- Berndsen, C. E.; Bell, J. K. The Structural Biology and Dynamics of Malate Dehydrogenases. Essays Biochem. 2024. https://doi.org/10.1042/EBC20230082.
- Sholes, A.; Asongakap, R.; Jaconski, S.; Monroe, J.; Berndsen, C. E. Potassium Cations Expand the Conformation Ensemble of Arabidopsis Thaliana β-Amylase2 (BAM2). microPublication Biology 2024. https://doi.org/10.17912/MICROPUB.BIOLOGY.001257.
- Ravenburg, C. M.; Riney, M. B.; Monroe, J. D.; Berndsen, C. E. The BAM7 Gene in Zea Mays Encodes a Protein with Similar Structural and Catalytic Properties to Arabidopsis BAM2. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2022, 78 (Pt 5), 560–570.
