Mary Tran-Gyamfi

Member of the Technical Staff

(925) 294-2513

Sandia National Laboratories, California
P.O. Box 969
Livermore, CA 94551-0969

Biography

In the past 10 years, Mary Tran-Gyamfi has worked on many different projects. In studying plants, algae, fungi and yeast, she has been able to understand the complexities and the roles that differing organisms can play in helping to build Sandia’s bioenergy program. She works in the bioconversion of algal carbohydrate and proteins, engineers and screens yeast to produce terpenes, and runs algae testbed experiments in three 1000L ponds to test algae growth under varying conditions.

Education

Bachelor’s Degree: Biological Sciences (1996)

Relevant Prior Positions

Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratory (2008-Present)

Member of multiple algae project including carbon capture, algae bloom, and biomass conversion projects
Collaborates with the USDA to introduce cellulase expression into model plants

Biomedical Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2000-2008)

Characterization and annotation of human zinc finger genes
Member of the Joint Genome Institute’s Mapping Group involved in annotating human Chromosome 5, 16 and 19
Member of the human genome and microbial sequencing group

Education Volunteer, Ghana, West Africa, United States Peace Corps (1997-1999)

Taught science and mathematics to high school students
Developed curriculum and designed educational materials to prepare students for national exams

Publications

Kenneth Sale, Jose Rodriguez Ruiz, Yooli Light, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Matthew Hirakawa, Anthe George, Gina Geiselman, Salvador Martinez, (2022). Synthetic Microbial Consortium for Biological Breakdown and Conversion of Lignin https://doi.org/10.2172/1891189 Publication ID: 80282

Brooke Harmon, Yooli Light, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Joseph Schoeniger, Niren Murthy, Hesong Han, (2019). Controlling the Activity of Gene Editing Tools https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1643344 Publication ID: 66414

Xun Zhuang, Oliver Kilian, Eric Monroe, Masakazu Ito, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Fang Liu, Ryan Davis, Mona Mirsiaghi, Eric Sundstrom, Todd Pray, Jeffrey Skerker, Anthe George, John Gladden, (2019). Monoterpene production by the carotenogenic yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides Microbial Cell Factories https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1456545 Publication ID: 55818

Todd Lane, Nataly Beck, Pamela Lane, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Carolyn Fisher, (2018). Innate and designed resistance to algal pond crashes https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1592625 Publication ID: 59728

Carolyn Fisher, Pamela Lane, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Nataly Beck, Kristina Mahan, Todd Lane, (2018). Investigating the chemical and biological landscape of microalgae cultures to mitigate pond crashes https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1498632 Publication ID: 60946

Fang Liu, Weihua Wu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Xun Zhuang, Ryan Davis, (2018). Development of an E. coli consortium for the bioconversion of multi-substrate biomass streams to advanced biofuels https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1502689 Publication ID: 61175

Carolyn Fisher, Pamela Lane, Kunal Poorey, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Nataly Beck, Kristina Mahan, Todd Lane, (2018). Investigating the chemical and biological landscape of microalgae cultures to mitigate pond crashes https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1498616 Publication ID: 60930

Fang Liu, Weihua Wu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Xun Zhuang, Ryan Davis, (2017). Bioconversion of distillers’ grains hydrolysates to advanced biofuels by an Escherichia coli co-culture Microbial Cell Factories https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-017-0804-8 Publication ID: 54157

Eric Monroe, Fang Liu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Anthe George, Ryan Davis, (2017). Production upgrading and testing of fusel alcohols as high performance fuels from whole algae bioconversion https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1483214 Publication ID: 54339

Eric Monroe, Ryan Davis, Anthe George, Fang Liu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, (2017). Production and Upgrading of Fusel Alcohols from Biomass Hydrolysates https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1462520 Publication ID: 57401

Zohal Wardak, Arul Varman, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Ryan Davis, John Gladden, (2017). Microbial production of a precursor for biodegradable plastic https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1508463 Publication ID: 57558

Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Jon Manuel, Eric Monroe, Fang Liu, Ryan Davis, (2017). Integrated bioconversion of algal carbohydrates and proteins to liquid fuels and intermediate value products https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1458229 Publication ID: 56718

Fang Liu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Ryan Davis, Weihua Wu, (2017). One-pot bioconversion of distillers? grains to advanced biofuels https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1456457 Publication ID: 55676

Eric Monroe, Fang Liu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Ryan Davis, (2017). Production Blending and Upgrading of Advanced Renewable Fuels for the Co-optimization of Fuels and Engines https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1456466 Publication ID: 55682

Weihua Wu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Ryan Davis, (2016). Cofactor engineering of ketol-acid reductoisomerase (IlvC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (YqhD) improves the fusel alcohol yield in algal protein anaerobic fermentation Algal Research https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2016.08.013 Publication ID: 48739

Haifeng Geng, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Kenneth Sale, Todd Lane, (2016). Substructural details of chemical driven shifts in the Nannochloropsis salina microbiota https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1376782 Publication ID: 51748

Ryan Davis, Ryan Davis, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Weihua Wu, Weihua Wu, Fang Liu, Fang Liu, James Jaryenneh, James Jaryenneh, (2016). Comprehensive bioconversion of algae biomass to liquid fuels and intermediate value products https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1529854 Publication ID: 51600

Haifeng Geng, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Kenneth Sale, Todd Lane, (2016). Utilizing Biocomplexity to Propagate Stable Algal Blooms in Open System https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1375582 Publication ID: 51637

Haifeng Geng, Kenneth Sale, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Todd Lane, Eizadora Yu, (2016). Longitudinal Analysis of Microbiota in Microalga Nannochloropsis salina Cultures Microbial Ecology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-016-0746-4 Publication ID: 48532

Ryan Davis, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Weihua Wu, Todd Lane, Ronald Pate, Benjamin Wu, (2015). Integrated bioconversion of algal carbohydrates and proteins to liquid fuels and intermediate value products https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1333478 Publication ID: 46072

Ryan Davis, Weihua Wu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Benjamin Wu, (2015). Bioconversion of Algae Biomass for Fuels and Bioproducts https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1263978 Publication ID: 44392

Anna-Maria Hadjilambris, Weihua Wu, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, James Jaryenneh, Benjamin Wu, Ryan Davis, James Liao, Nicholas Nagle, (2015). Bioconversion of Algae Biomass for Fuels and Bioproducts https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1340138 Publication ID: 44505

Todd Lane, Kenneth Sale, Haifeng Geng, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, (2014). The Contribution of Founder Community to the Succession of Algal Microbiota Applied Environmental Microbiology https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1140322 Publication ID: 37196

Kevin Turner, Corey Hudson, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Amy Powell, Kelly Williams, (2014). Understanding and regulation of microbial lignolysis for renewable platform chemicals https://doi.org/10.2172/1322272 Publication ID: 36881

David Brazel, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Victoria VanderNoot, Steven Branda, (2013). An RNA-Seq analysis of Francisella tularensis LVS transcriptional shifts at early time points during in vitro infections PLoS One https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1113046 Publication ID: 34364

Zachary Bent, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Stanley Langevin, David Brazel, Steven Branda, Todd Lane, Victoria VanderNoot, (2013). Enriching pathogen transcripts from infected samples: A capture-based approach to enhanced host–pathogen RNA sequencing Analytical Biochemistry https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2013.03.008 Publication ID: 31337

Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Stanley Langevin, David Brazel, Steven Branda, Todd Lane, Victoria VanderNoot, (2013). Enriching pathogen transcripts from infected samples : https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1503472 Publication ID: 32686

Zachary Bent, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Stanley Langevin, David Brazel, Steven Branda, Todd Lane, Victoria VanderNoot, (2013). Enriching pathogen transcripts from infected samples : https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1503470 Publication ID: 32332

Masood Hadi, Craig Taatjes, Kevin Turner, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, (2012). LB1 : https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1294247 Publication ID: 29368

Todd Lane, Kelly Williams, Owen Solberg, Kamlesh Patel, Steven Branda, Stanley Langevin, Pamela Lane, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Victoria VanderNoot, Joseph Schoeniger, (2012). Rapid Threat Organism Recognition https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1067717 Publication ID: 28455

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Characterization of Pathogens in Clinical Specimens via Suppression of Host Background for Efficient Second Generation Sequencing Analyses https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1141142 Publication ID: 28871

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Copy of Automated Molecular Biology Platform Enabling Rapid & Efficient SGS Analysis of Pathogens in Clinical Samples https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1688623 Publication ID: 27929

Steven Branda, Mais Jebrail, James Van De Vreugde, Stanley Langevin, Zachary Bent, Deanna Curtis, Pamela Lane, Bryan Carson, Elisa La Bauve, Kamlesh Patel, James Ricken, Joseph Schoeniger, Owen Solberg, Kelly Williams, Milind Misra, Amy Powell, Nicholas Pattengale, Elebeoba May, Todd Lane, Duane Lindner, Malin Young, Victoria VanderNoot, Numrin Thaitrong, Michael Bartsch, Ronald Renzi, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Robert Meagher, (2012). Automated Molecular Biology Platform Enabling Rapid & Efficient SGS Analysis of Pathogens in Clinical Samples https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1067707 Publication ID: 27930

Stanley Langevin, Victoria VanderNoot, Owen Solberg, Deanna Curtis, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Pamela Lane, Steven Branda, Todd Lane, (2012). Negative capture combined with HAC normalization for selective enrichment of pathogen-derived nucleic acids in clinical samples https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1294283 Publication ID: 27714

Eizadora Yu, Craig Taatjes, John Dec, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, (2012). Tailoring Next-Generation Biofuels and their Combustion in Next-Generation Engines https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1660687 Publication ID: 26004

Eizadora Yu, John Dec, Craig Taatjes, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, (2011). Tailoring Next-generation Biofuels and their combustion in Next-generation Engines https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1111706 Publication ID: 25328

Jerilyn Timlin, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Rajat Sapra, Michael Sinclair, Blake Simmons, (2008). “Trojan Horse” strategy for deconstruction of biomass for biofuels production https://www.osti.gov/biblio/947794 Publication ID: 14594

Showing Results. Show More Publications

Selected Publications

Hamilton, AT, Huntley, S, Tran-Gyamfi, M, Baggott DM, Gordon L, Stubbs L. (2006) Evolutionary expansion and divergence in the ZNF91subfamily of primate-specific zinc finger genes. Genome Res, 16: 584-94
Huntley, S., Baggott, D.M., Hamilton, A.T., Tran-Gyamfi, M., Yang, S., Kim, J., Gordon, L., Branscomb, E., and Stubbs, L. 2006. A comprehensive catalog of human KRAB-associated zinc finger genes: Insights into the evolutionary history of a large family of transcriptional repressors. Genome Res. 16: 669-677.
Grimwood, J., Gordon, L.A., Olsen, A., Terry, A., Schmutz, J., Lamerdin, J., Hellsten, U., Goodstein, D., Couronne, O., Tran-Gyamfi, M., et al. 2004. The DNA sequence and biology of human chromosome 19. Nature 428: 529-535.
Schmutz, J., Martin, J., Terry, A., Couronne, O., Grimwood, J., Lowry, S., Gordon, L.A., Scott, D., Xie, G., Huang, W., Hellsten, U., Tran-Gyamfi ,M., She, X., Prabhakar, S., Aerts, A., et al 2004. The DNA sequence and comparative analysis of human chromosome 5. Nature. 431: 268-74.
Laurie Gordon, Shan Yang, Tran-Gyamfi M, Dan Baggott, Mari Christensen, Aaron Hamilton, Richard Crooijmans, Martien Groenen, Susan Lucas, Ivan Ovcharenko, and Lisa Stubbs. “Comparative analysis of chicken chromosome 28 provides new clues to the evolutionary fragility of gene-rich vertebrate genomic regions” Genome Res. 17: 1603-13
Heins RA, Cheng X, Nath S, Deng K, Bowen BP, Chivian DC, Datta S, Friedland GD, D’Haeseleer P, Wu D, Tran-Gyamfi M, et al. 2014 Phylogenomically Guided Identification of Industrially Relevant GH1 β-Glucosidases through DNA Synthesis and Nanostructure-Initiator Mass Spectrometry. ACS Chem Biol. 9:2082-91.
Bent ZW, Brazel DM, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Hamblin RY, VanderNoot VA, Branda SS. 2013 Use of a capture-based pathogen transcript enrichment strategy for RNA-Seq analysis of the Francisella tularensis LVS transcriptome during infection of murine macrophages. PLoS One. 8:e77834
Bent ZW, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Langevin SA, Brazel DM, Hamblin RY, Branda SS, Patel KD, Lane TW, VanderNoot VA. 2013 Enriching pathogen transcripts from infected samples: a capture-based approach to enhanced host-pathogen RNA sequencing. Anal Biochem. 438:90-6
Geng H, Sale KL, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Lane TW, Yu ET. 2016 Longitudinal Analysis of Microbiota in Microalga Nannochloropsis salina Cultures. Microb Ecol. 72(1):14-24
Geng H, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Lane TW, Sale KL, Yu ET. 2016 Changes in the Structure of the Microbial Community Associated with Nannochloropsis salina following Treatments with Antibiotics and Bioactive Compounds. Front Microbiol. 26;7:1155
Wu W, Davis RW, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Kuo A, LaButti K, Mihaltcheva S, Hundley H, Chovatia M, Lindquist E, Barry K, Grigoriev IV, Henrissat B, Gladden JM. 2017 Characterization of four endophytic fungi as potential consolidated bioprocessing hosts for conversion of lignocellulose into advanced biofuels. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 101(6):2603-2618
Liu F, Wu W, Tran-Gyamfi MB, Jaryenneh JD, Zhuang X, Davis RW. 2017 Bioconversion of distillers’ grains hydrolysates to advanced biofuels by an Escherichia coli co-culture. Microb Cell Fact. 16(1):192