SGER: Genetic Engineering of Archaeoglobus Fulgidus

所有已知的产甲烷菌的碳源需求仅限于简单的C1和C2化合物，例如CO2、甲醇、甲酸盐和乙酸盐，尽管事实上从较高分子量碳源的产甲烷对于生长来说是足够放能的。 目前用于甲烷生产的厌氧消化过程包括三个基本步骤：溶解、产酸和产甲烷。 这些过程由具有不同pH最适值的不同微生物聚生体进行。 该项目的目标是设计一种能够从复杂基质中产甲烷的微生物。 这将提高甲烷生产的厌氧消化过程的速率和效率。 该生物体，闪烁古生球菌，是一种极端嗜热（83摄氏度）的硫酸盐还原菌，生长在广泛的碳源，包括蛋白胨，淀粉和明胶。 A.闪电菌被称为产甲烷菌和硫酸盐代谢菌之间的“进化缺失环节”，因为它利用除最后一种酶之外的所有参与产甲烷的酶。在这个探索性的项目中，突变/选择策略和基因转移技术都被用来从A.闪电。 古球菌基因工程的成功将大大提高甲烷的生产速度和效率，甲烷是一种理想的能源。 ***

9321893 Hartzell The carbon source requirements of all known methanogens are limited to simple C1 and C2 compounds such as CO2, methanol, formate, and acetate despite the fact that methanogenesis from higher molecular weight carbon sources would be sufficiently exergonic for growth. Current anaerobic digestion processes for methane production involve three basic steps: solubilization, acidogenesis, and methanogenesis. These processes are carried out by different microbial consortia with different pH optima. The goal of this project is to engineer a microbe capable of methanogenesis from complex substrates. This will improve the rate and efficiency of anaerobic digestion processes for methane production. The organism, Archaeoglobus fulgidus, is an extremely thermophilic (83 degrees C) sulfate-reducing Archaeon that grows on a broad range of carbon sources including peptone, starch, and gelatin. A. fulgidus has been referred to as "the evolutionary missing link" between the methanogens and the sulfate metabolizers as it utilizes all but the final enzymes involved in methanogenesis. In this exploratory project, both mutation/selection strategies and gene transfer techniques are being used to create a broad-substrate-range methanogen from A. fulgidus. %%% Success in genetically engineering Archaeolglobus should lead to a major improvement in the rate and efficiency of production of methane, a desirable energy source. ***