Cheryl M Immethun

USDA Postdoctoral fellow
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Office: 209.1 Othmer Hall, UNL City Campus
Email: cheryl.immethun@gmail.com

  • Unraveling the mechanisms responsible for the endosymbiotic relationship between nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes.

About Me:

I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering department at UNL.  I received my PhD in Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis in 2016.  I earned a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2011 and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1985.

My research in the Systems and Synthetic Biology laboratory has focused on harnessing the unique biochemical capabilities on non-model bacteria to improve sustainability in manufacturing and agriculture.  This work encompasses identifying potential hosts capable of valorizing agricultural waste streams; building and testing genetic regulators to control the flow of biological information in the host; and identifying and assessing metabolic engineering strategies to improve product yield, titer, and quality as well as nutrient utilization.  This work has led to querying symbiotic nitrogen fixation through the engineering of a non-endosymbiotic plant growth-promoting purple non-sulfur bacterium, supported by a USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Fellowship.  I have also been responsible for training and mentoring students in the lab.  

My current project is determining the effects of terminal-differentiating Nodule-specific Cysteine-Rich peptides from the legume Aeschynomene evenia on its symbiotic partner Bradyrhizobium sp. ORS278 and the closely related non-endosymbiotic Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009.


Outside of work, I like to spend my time gardening, walking/biking, and traveling.

Follow me on Google Scholar, LinkedIn, and ResearchGate.

Here is a list of my publications:

  1. B Brown, C Immethun, M Wilkins, R Saha. “Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 polyhydroxybutyrate production from a lignin aromatic and quantification via flow cytometry”, Bioresour. Technol. Rep. 11: 100474 (2020).
  2. E Zamani, S Chatterjee, T Changa, C Immethun, A Sarella, R Saha, SK Dishari. “Mechanistic Understanding of the Interactions of Cationic Conjugated Oligo- and Polyelectrolytes with Wild-type and Ampicillin-resistant Escherichia coli”, Sci. Rep. 9 (1): 20411 (2019).
  3. A Alsiyabi, CM Immethun, R Saha. “Modeling the Interplay between Photosynthesis, CO2 Fixation, and the Quinone Pool in a Purple Non-Sulfur Bacterium”, Sci. Rep. 9 (1): 12638 (2019).
  4. CM Immethun, T Daher, and R Saha. “Applying Blended Learning Techniques: Perspectives from Chemical Engineering Computation”, Chem. Eng. Educ. 53:3 (2019).
  5. CM Immethun and TS Moon. in Synthetic Biology of Cyanobacteria “Ch. 13. Synthetic Gene Regulation in Cyanobacteria”, 317-355, (Springer, 2018).
  6. CM Immethun, DM DeLorenzo, CM Focht, D Gupta, CB Johnson, TS Moon. “Physical, Chemical, and Metabolic State Transcriptional Regulators Expand the Synthetic Biology Toolbox for Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803”, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 114:7 (2017).
  7. N Wan, DM DeLorenzo, L He, L You, CM Immethun, G Wang, EEK Baidoo, W Hollinshead, JD Keasling, TS Moon, YJ Tang. “Cyanobacterial Carbon Metabolism: Fluxome Plasticity and Oxygen Dependence”, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 114:7 (2017).
  8. CM Immethun, WR Henson, X Wang, DR Nielsen, TS Moon. in Biotechnology for Biofuel Production and Optimization “Ch. 1. Engineering Central Metabolism for Production of Higher Alcohol-based Biofuels”, 1 – 34 (Elsevier, 2016).
  9. CM Immethun, KM Ng, DM DeLorenzo, YC Lee, B Waldron-Feinstein, TS Moon. “Oxygen-Responsive Genetic Circuits Constructed in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803”,Biotechnol. Bioeng. 113:2 (2016). 
  10. BM Berla, R Saha, CM Immethun, CD Maranas, TS Moon, HB Pakrasi. “Synthetic Biology of Cyanobacteria: Unique Challenges and Opportunities”, Front. Microbio. 4:246 (2013).
  11. CM Immethun, AG Hoynes-O’Connor, A Balassy and TS Moon. “Microbial Production of Isoprenoids Enabled by Synthetic Biology”, Front. Microbio. 4:75 (2013).