Calvin Henard

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Chemistry
Assistant Professor

940-565-3280

Calvin.Henard@unt.edu

Calvin Henard

Dr. Calvin A. Henard received a B.S. in Molecular Biology from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado where he studied the role of the nutrient starvation stringent response in Salmonella's ability to co-opt and subvert host immune responses. Following his doctoral studies, Dr. Henard was an NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein postdoctoral trainee at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas where he evaluated virulence mechanisms of the intracellular protozoan parasite Leishmania. Dr. Henard  then joined the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Bioenergy Center as a postdoctoral researcher, where he was promoted to a full-time staff researcher in the applied biology group in 2016. At NREL, Dr. Henard used his expertise in molecular microbiology and metabolic engineering to develop algal, yeast, and bacterial biocatalysts for production of biofuels and bioproducts. In 2019, Dr. Henard joined the Department of Biological Sciences and the BioDiscovery Institute at the University of North Texas (UNT). Dr. Henard's lab at UNT leverages advanced molecular and synthetic biology to develop biotechnologies for the conversion of C1 substrates to fuels and chemicals using methanotrophic bacteria.

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CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Microbial metabolism and physiology
  • Transcriptional regulation in bacteria
  • Genetic engineering
  • Genomics
  • C1 biocatalysis
  • Methanotrophs
  • Autotrophs

FOR PROSPECTIVE GRADUATE STUDENTS

Apply to the Graduate Program in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

CURRENT GRANT-FUNDED PROJECTS

  • NSF CAREER: Organic and inorganic carbon metabolism in methanotrophic bacteria. National Science Foundation. (January 2025-January 2030).
  • Development of advanced biocatalyst tools and resources to enable biogas-based biomanufacturing. National Science Foundation (September 2022-August 2026).
  • Development and validation of CRISPR interference genome-wide libraries to enable high-throughput single-carbon biocatalyst optimization. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technology Office via MSI STEM Research and Development Consortium. (August 2023-July 2025)

MOST SIGNIFICANT PUBLICATIONS

  1. Lee, S.A., Henard, J.M., Alba, R., Benedict, C., Mayes, T., and Henard C.A. Overexpression of native carbonic anhydrase increases carbon conversion efficiency in the methanotrophic biocatalyst Methylococcus capsulatus Bath. mSphere, e00496-24. https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00496-24.
  2. Bhat, E.H., Henard, J.M., Lee, S.A., McHalffey, D., Ravulapati, M.S., Rogers, E.V., Yu, L., Skiles, D., and Henard C.A. Construction of a broad-host-range Anderson promoter series and particulate methane monooxygenase promoter variants expand the methanotroph genetic toolbox. Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology, Volume 9, Issue 2, 2024, Pages 250-258, ISSN 2405-805X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synbio.2024.02.003.
  3. Henard, C.A. Insights into methanotroph carbon flux pave the way for methane biocatalysis. Trends Biotechnol. 2023, 41, 298–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.01.011.
  4. Nath, S., Henard, J. M. & Henard, C. A. Optimized tools and methods for methanotroph genome editing. Methods Mol. Biol. 2489, 421–434 (2022). https://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1007/978-1-0716-2273_21
  5. Henard, C.A., Wu, C., Xiong, W., Henard, J.M., Davidheiser-Kroll, B., Orata, F.D., and Guarnieri, M.T. (2021). Ribulose-1,5-Bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase (RubisCO) Is Essential for Growth of the Methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus Strain Bath. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 87, e0088121. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00881-21
  6. Fei, Q., Liang, B., Tao, L., Tan, E.C.D., Gonzalez, R., Henard, C., and Guarnieri, M. (2020). Biological valorization of natural gas for the production of lactic acid: techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment. Biochem Eng J 107500. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2020.107500
  7. Henard, C. A., Akberdin, I. R., Kalyuzhnaya, M. G. & Guarnieri, M. T. Muconic acid production from methane using rationally-engineered methanotrophic biocatalysts. Green Chem. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1039/C9GC03722E
  8. Dahlin, L. R.; Gerritsen, A. T.; Henard, C. A.; Van Wychen, S.; Linger, J. G.; Kunde, Y.; Hovde, B. T.; Starkenburg, S. R.; Posewitz, M. C.; Guarnieri, M. T. Development of a high-productivity, halophilic, thermotolerant microalga Picochlorum renovo. Commun. Biol. 2019, 2, 388. https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-019-0620-2.
  9. Qian, F., Zhu, C., Knipe, J.M., Ruelas, S., Stolaroff, J.K., DeOtte, J.R., Duoss, E.B., Spadaccini, C.M., Henard, C.A., Guarnieri, M.T., et al. (2019). Direct writing of tunable living inks for bioprocess intensification. Nano Lett. 19, 5829–5835. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00066
  10. Tapscott, T., Guarnieri, M.T., and Henard, C.A. (2019). Development of a CRISPR/Cas9 System for Methylococcus capsulatus In Vivo Gene Editing. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 85. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.00340-19.

PATENTS

  1. Organic acid synthesis from C1 substrates. CA Henard, MT Guarnieri - US Patent 10,889,821, 2021
  2. Organic acid synthesis from C1 substrates. CA Henard, MT Guarnieri - US Patent 10,435,693, 2019