Marcus Moreno

Contact information

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
7000 East Avenue, L-452
Livermore, CA 94550
email: moreno44@llnl.gov
phone: 925 422 4621

         

Education

Ph.D. in Biochemistry, University of California Davis, 2020.
B.S. in Biochemistry, University of Vermont, 2015.

Research

My research interests include biochemistry, enzyme engineering, sythetic biology, and structural biology. In past work, I have structurally and photochemically characterized cyanobacterial photoreceptors and engineered enzymes to alter the flavor profiles of wines. In my current project, I am working to engineer enzymes for use in biosynthetic pathways for the production of DOE relevant bioproducts.

Recent publications

  1. Rockwell N.C., Moreno M.V., Martin S.S., & Lagarias J.C. (2022) Protein-chromophore interactions controlling photoisomerization in red/green cyanobacteriochromes. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 21, 471–491 https://doi.org/10.1007/s43630-022-00213-3.

  2. Bandara S., Rockwell N.C., Zeng X., Ren Z., Wang C., Shin H., Martin S.S., Moreno M.V., Lagarias J.C., Yang X. (2021) Crystal structure of a far-red-sensing cyanobacteriochrome reveals an atypical bilin conformation and spectral tuning mechanism. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 118 (12) e2025094118 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2025094118.

  3. Moreno M.V., Rockwell N.C., Mora M., Fisher A.J., & Lagarias J.C. (2020) A far-red cyanobacteriochrome lineage specific for verdins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 117 (45) 27962-27970 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2016047117.

  4. Blain-Hartung M., Rockwell N.C., Moreno M.V., Martin S.S., Gan F., Bryant D.A., & Lagarias J.C. (2018) Cyanobacteriochrome-based photoswitchable adenylyl cyclases (cPACs) for broad spectrum light regulation of cAMP levels in cells. J. Biol. Chem. 293(22):8473-8483. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.RA118.002258.