Towards an Assembly Pathway for the Carboxysome, the Prototype Bacterial Organelle.

在蓝藻和化学自养细菌中，羧体是一个微隔室，在这些生物的碳浓缩机制中起着重要的作用。然而，羧体的组装途径还不是很清楚，为了简化这个问题，我们将研究新生嗜盐杆菌羧体在大肠杆菌中的组装。这项拟议的研究将扩大我们对碳体组装、结构和功能的理解，并为蓝藻和化学自养细菌如何调节二氧化碳的固定提供洞察力。更广泛的影响：细菌对二氧化碳的吸收对于我们理解全球碳循环和气候变化的影响非常重要，而对碳组的了解与我们改造生物生产生物燃料的能力有关。将为研究生和本科生提供培训机会，包括那些在科学领域代表性不足的学生。对代表不足的少数族裔高中和中学教师和学生的接触将为他们提供参与这一研究项目的机会。

The carboxysome is a microcompartment that, in cyanobacteria and chemoautotrophic bacteria, plays an important role as a component of the Carbon Concentrating Mechanisms of these organisms. However, the pathway for assembly of the carboxysome is not well understood, and in order to simplify this problem the assembly of the Halothiobacillus neapolitanus carboxysome will be studied in Escherichia coli. The proposed study will extend our understanding of carboxysome assembly, structure and function, and provide insight into how cyanobacteria and chemoautotrophic bacteria regulate the fixation of carbon dioxide. Broader Impacts: The uptake of carbon dioxide by bacteria is important for our understanding of the global carbon cycle and the impacts of climate change, and knowledge of the carboxysome is relevant to our ability to engineer organisms to produce biofuels. Training opportunities will be provided for graduate and undergraduate students, including those from groups underrepresented in science. Outreach to underrepresented minority high school and middle school teachers and students will provide opportunities for them to engage with this research project.