METABOLOMICS: Integrating cheminformatic resources for investigating photoautotrophic and mixotrophic metabolism in algae.

代谢组是细胞内化学反应产物的总和；它包含一系列不同的化学物质，这些化学物质是物种特有的，受环境的强烈影响。因此，尽管进行了数十年的生化研究，但代谢组学仍然是一个处于发展中的领域，没有一个全面的数据库能够捕获物种依赖性代谢物的补充。该项目将通过识别所有可检测的代谢物来捕获10种光合微生物（藻类）的代谢组，这些代谢物是在不同碳源（例如二氧化碳和其他有机化合物，包括废水中发现的那些）的条件下生长过程中合成的。这些数据将大大增加我们对藻类代谢和碳利用的认识。该项目的主要目标是整合和改进现有的代谢组学数据库和库，并建立快速鉴定代谢物的新工具。该项目产生的资源将免费提供，以促进包括工程、分析化学和生物信息学在内的多个学科的合作。该项目将促进基于光合微生物的更有效的生物燃料生产技术的发展。更广泛的影响通过与东京大学和大阪府立大学的研究人员合作，该项目将整合并自由传播有关化学数据库、化学软件、代谢研究实验室协议和藻类代谢组学研究结果的信息和教程。基于网络的访问将使研究人员和其他对使用这些工具感兴趣的人能够比较不同物种在不同环境条件下的生物化学。除了下一代研究人员的国际培训和教育外，项目参与者还将通过NSF-REU和GK-12计划向K-12教育的学生和小学生进行推广。项目工作人员将参与面向教师的生物技术系统生物技术方案，为高中学生提供教育活动，并与拥有大量服务不足和代表性不足的少数民族学生的当地学校合作。

The metabolome is the sum total of the products of chemical reactions in the cell; it comprises a diverse set of chemicals that is species-specific and that is strongly influenced by the environment. Thus, despite decades of biochemical research, metabolomics is a field that is still in development, and no comprehensive database captures the complement of species-dependent metabolites. This project will capture the metabolome of 10 photosynthetic microorganisms (algae) by identifying all detectable metabolites that are synthesized as building blocks during their growth under conditions with variable sources of carbon (for example carbon dioxide and other organic compounds, including those found in wastewater). These data will greatly increase our knowledge of algal metabolism and carbon utilization. A major goal of this project is to integrate and improve existing metabolomic databases and libraries and to build new tools for the fast identification of metabolites. The resources resulting from this project will be made freely available to foster collaborations across multiple disciplines including engineering, analytical chemistry and bioinformatics. This project will facilitate the development of more efficient technologies for biofuel production based on photosynthetic microorganisms.Broader ImpactsThis project, through collaborations with researchers at the University of Tokyo and Osaka Prefectural University, will integrate and freely disseminate information and tutorials about libraries of chemical data, chemistry software, laboratory protocols for metabolism studies and results from the algal metabolomic studies. Web-based access will enable researchers and others interested in using these tools to compare the biochemistry of different species under various environmental conditions. In addition to the international training and education of the next generation of researchers, there will be outreach by project participants to students and pupils in K-12 education through the NSF-REU and GK-12 programs. Project staff will participate in the BioTech SYSTEM biotechnology program for teachers by providing educational activities for high school students and by partnering with local schools with large populations of under-served and under-represented minority students.