Donald Bryant

Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology; Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Donald Bryant

Research Summary

Photosynthesis, structure-function relationships of proteins, gene regulation, and microbial physiology. Cyanobacteria and green sulfur bacteria. Genomics of photosynthetic bacteria.

Huck Affiliations

Most Recent Publications

Structure of a dimeric photosystem II complex from a cyanobacterium acclimated to far-red light

Christopher Gisriel, Gaozhong Shen, David Flesher, Vasily Kurashov, John H. Golbeck, Gary Brudvig, Muhamed Amin, Donald Ashley Bryant, 2023, Journal of Biological Chemistry

Expansion of the global RNA virome reveals diverse clades of bacteriophages

Uri Neri, Yuri I. Wolf, Simon Roux, Antonio Pedro Camargo, Benjamin Lee, Darius Kazlauskas, I. Min Chen, Natalia Ivanova, Lisa Zeigler Allen, David Paez-Espino, Donald A. Bryant, Devaki Bhaya, Adrienne B. Narrowe, Alexander J. Probst, Alexander Sczyrba, Annegret Kohler, Armand Séguin, Ashley Shade, Barbara J. Campbell, Björn D. Lindahl, Brandi Kiel Reese, Breanna M. Roque, Chris DeRito, Colin Averill, Daniel Cullen, David A.C. Beck, David A. Walsh, David M. Ward, Dongying Wu, Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Eoin L. Brodie, Erica B. Young, Erik A. Lilleskov, Federico J. Castillo, Francis M. Martin, Gary R. LeCleir, Graeme T. Attwood, Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz, Holly M. Simon, Ian Hewson, Igor V. Grigoriev, James M. Tiedje, Janet K. Jansson, Janey Lee, Jean S. VanderGheynst, Jeff Dangl, Jeff S. Bowman, Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Monica Medina, Terrence H. Bell, 2022, Cell on p. 4023-4037.e18

Acclimation of the photosynthetic apparatus to low light in a thermophilic Synechococcus sp. strain

Nathan Soulier, Karim Walters, Tatiana N. Laremore, Gaozhong Shen, John H. Golbeck, Donald A. Bryant, 2022, Photosynthesis Research on p. 21-42

Molecular Evolution of Far-Red Light-Acclimated Photosystem II

Christopher J. Gisriel, Tanai Cardona, Donald A. Bryant, Gary W. Brudvig, 2022, Microorganisms

Use of Quartz Sand Columns to Study Far-Red Light Photoacclimation (FaRLiP) in Cyanobacteria

Ting Shuo Nien, Donald A. Bryant, Ming Yang Ho, 2022, Applied and Environmental Microbiology

Thousands of small, novel genes predicted in global phage genomes

Brayon J. Fremin, Ami S. Bhatt, Nikos C. Kyrpides, Aditi Sengupta, Alexander Sczyrba, Aline Maria da Silva, Alison Buchan, Amelie Gaudin, Andreas Brune, Ann M. Hirsch, Anthony Neumann, Ashley Shade, Axel Visel, Barbara Campbell, Brett Baker, Brian P. Hedlund, Byron C. Crump, Cameron Currie, Charlene Kelly, Chris Craft, Christina Hazard, Christopher Francis, Christopher W. Schadt, Colin Averill, Courtney Mobilian, Dan Buckley, Dana Hunt, Daniel Noguera, David Beck, David L. Valentine, David Walsh, Dawn Sumner, Despoina Lymperopoulou, Devaki Bhaya, Donald A. Bryant, Elise Morrison, Eoin Brodie, Erica Young, Erik Lilleskov, Eva Högfors-Rönnholm, Feng Chen, Frank Stewart, Graeme W. Nicol, Hanno Teeling, Harry R. Beller, Hebe Dionisi, Hui Ling Liao, J. Michael Beman, Jennifer Macalady, Monica Medina, 2022, Cell Reports

Adaptation of Cyanobacteria to the Endolithic Light Spectrum in Hyper-Arid Deserts

Bayleigh Murray, Emine Ertekin, Micah Dailey, Nathan T. Soulier, Gaozhong Shen, Donald A. Bryant, Cesar Perez-Fernandez, Jocelyne Diruggiero, 2022, Microorganisms

Changes in supramolecular organization of cyanobacterial thylakoid membrane complexes in response to far-red light photoacclimation

Craig MacGregor-Chatwin, Dennis J. Nürnberg, Philip J. Jackson, Cvetelin Vasilev, Andrew Hitchcock, Ming Yang Ho, Gaozhong Shen, Christopher J. Gisriel, William H.J. Wood, Moontaha Mahbub, Vera M. Selinger, Matthew P. Johnson, Mark J. Dickman, Alfred William Rutherford, Donald A. Bryant, C. Neil Hunter, 2022, Science advances

Structure of a monomeric photosystem II core complex from a cyanobacterium acclimated to far-red light reveals the functions of chlorophylls d and f

Christopher Gisriel, Gaozhong Shen, Ming-Yang Ho, Kurashov Vasily, Vasily Kurashov, David Flesher, Jimin Wang, William Armstrong, John H. Golbeck, Marilyn Gunner, David Vinyard, Richard Debus, Gary Brudvig, Donald A. Bryant, 2021, Journal of Biological Chemistry on p. 101424

Photosynthesis: Long wavelength pigments in photosynthesis

Ming Yang Ho, Donald A. Bryant, 2021, on p. 245-255

Most-Cited Papers

A genomic catalog of Earth’s microbiomes

Stephen Nayfach, Simon Roux, Rekha Seshadri, Daniel Udwary, Neha Varghese, Frederik Schulz, Dongying Wu, David Paez-Espino, I. Min Chen, Marcel Huntemann, Krishna Palaniappan, Joshua Ladau, Supratim Mukherjee, T. B.K. Reddy, Torben Nielsen, Edward Kirton, José P. Faria, Janaka N. Edirisinghe, Christopher S. Henry, Sean P. Jungbluth, Dylan Chivian, Paramvir Dehal, Elisha M. Wood-Charlson, Adam P. Arkin, Susannah G. Tringe, Axel Visel, Helena Abreu, Silvia G. Acinas, Eric Allen, Michelle A. Allen, Lauren V. Alteio, Gary Andersen, Alexandre M. Anesio, Graeme Attwood, Viridiana Avila-Magaña, Yacine Badis, Jake Bailey, Brett Baker, Petr Baldrian, Hazel A. Barton, David A.C. Beck, Eric D. Becraft, Harry R. Beller, J. Michael Beman, Rizlan Bernier-Latmani, Timothy D. Berry, Anthony Bertagnolli, Stefan Bertilsson, Donald A. Bryant, Mónica Medina, 2021, Nature Biotechnology on p. 499-509

Extensive remodeling of a cyanobacterial photosynthetic apparatus in far-red light

Fei Gan, Shuyi Zhang, Nathan C. Rockwell, Shelley S. Martin, J. Clark Lagarias, Donald A. Bryant, 2014, Science on p. 1312-1317

Biosynthesis of the modified tetrapyrroles—the pigments of life

Donald A. Bryant, C. Neil Hunter, Martin J. Warren, 2020, Journal of Biological Chemistry on p. 6888-6925

Light-dependent chlorophyll f synthase is a highly divergent paralog of PsbA of photosystem II

Ming Yang Ho, Gaozhong Shen, Daniel P. Canniffe, Chi Zhao, Donald A. Bryant, 2016, Science

Occurrence of far-red light photoacclimation (FaRLiP) in diverse cyanobacteria

Fei Gan, Gaozhong Shen, Donald A. Bryant, 2015, Life on p. 4-24

Adaptive and acclimative responses of cyanobacteria to far-red light

Fei Gan, Donald A. Bryant, 2015, Environmental Microbiology on p. 3450-3465

The role of biology in planetary evolution: Cyanobacterial primary production in low-oxygen Proterozoic oceans

Trinity L. Hamilton, Donald A. Bryant, Jennifer L. Macalady, 2016, Environmental Microbiology on p. 325-340

Expansion of the global RNA virome reveals diverse clades of bacteriophages

Uri Neri, Yuri I. Wolf, Simon Roux, Antonio Pedro Camargo, Benjamin Lee, Darius Kazlauskas, I. Min Chen, Natalia Ivanova, Lisa Zeigler Allen, David Paez-Espino, Donald A. Bryant, Devaki Bhaya, Adrienne B. Narrowe, Alexander J. Probst, Alexander Sczyrba, Annegret Kohler, Armand Séguin, Ashley Shade, Barbara J. Campbell, Björn D. Lindahl, Brandi Kiel Reese, Breanna M. Roque, Chris DeRito, Colin Averill, Daniel Cullen, David A.C. Beck, David A. Walsh, David M. Ward, Dongying Wu, Emiley Eloe-Fadrosh, Eoin L. Brodie, Erica B. Young, Erik A. Lilleskov, Federico J. Castillo, Francis M. Martin, Gary R. LeCleir, Graeme T. Attwood, Hinsby Cadillo-Quiroz, Holly M. Simon, Ian Hewson, Igor V. Grigoriev, James M. Tiedje, Janet K. Jansson, Janey Lee, Jean S. VanderGheynst, Jeff Dangl, Jeff S. Bowman, Jeffrey L. Blanchard, Monica Medina, Terrence H. Bell, 2022, Cell on p. 4023-4037.e18

How nature designs light-harvesting antenna systems: Design principles and functional realization in chlorophototrophic prokaryotes

Donald Bryant, Daniel Canniffe, 2018, Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics

A physiological perspective on the origin and evolution of photosynthesis

William F. Martin, Donald A. Bryant, J. Thomas Beatty, 2018, FEMS Microbiology Reviews on p. 205-231

News Articles Featuring Donald Bryant

Jan 22, 2024

Altered light-harvesting complex in a cyanobacterium allows low-energy light use

Researchers have isolated and determined the molecular structure of the light-harvesting antenna that helps some cyanobacteria — formerly referred to as blue-green algae — produce energy through photosynthesis even in lower-energy light.

Full Article

Oct 17, 2023

Manuel Llinás named as the Ernest C. Pollard Professor in Biotechnology

Manuel Llinás, distinguished professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry in the Penn State Eberly College of Science, has been named the Ernest C. Pollard Professor in Biotechnology.

Full Article

Apr 09, 2020

Bryant honored with Kettering Award for excellence in photosynthesis research

Donald A. Bryant, Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State, has been awarded the Charles F. Kettering Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists. The award was established by an endowment from the Kettering Foundation in 1962 and recognizes meritorious work in photosynthesis.

Full Article

Feb 05, 2020

Scientists solve structure enabling cyanobacteria to thrive in low light

Scientists have determined the structure of the protein complex that gives cyanobacteria their unique ability to convert weak, filtered sunlight into useable energy. Their findings could one day be used to engineer crops that thrive under low-light conditions.

Full Article