Title: "Advancements in molecular cartography of plants and microbiomes"

Christopher Anderton

Interim Chief Science Officer, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Host: Dr. Young-Jin Lee

Abstract: Biological tissues and environmental microbiomes represent a complex mixture of interacting cells with diverse physiologies and functional capacities. Little is known about the molecular niches within tissues or the exchanges that occur within multi-kingdom systems, since measuring the composition within single cells and cell clusters is a major technical challenge. Spatially resolved mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) techniques have the ability to elucidate the distribution and location of molecules in an in situ fashion. Our team has developed novel MSI instrumentation and methods to explore and map the metabolome and more in environmental microbiomes and plants, as well as human tissues. These technologies have helped us reveal metabolic processes responsible from a range of areas including disease progression to molecular changes that regulate global biogeochemical cycles.

Bio: Christopher Anderton is the Interim Chief Science Officer at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a U.S. Department of Energy user facility. An expert in mass spectrometry imaging and spatial metabolomics, he leads EMSL’s strategic science planning and internal R&D initiatives. Anderton’s research focuses on multimodal imaging approaches to uncover chemical interactions across microbes, plants, soils, and other complex biological systems, advancing understanding of inter-kingdom interactions and environmental resilience. He holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. [pnnl.gov]