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

羧基体是一种微室，在蓝藻和趋化自养细菌中，作为这些生物的碳浓缩机制的一个组成部分起着重要作用。然而，羧基体的组装途径尚不清楚，为了简化这一问题，我们将研究新波利盐硫杆菌羧基体在大肠杆菌中的组装。该研究将扩展我们对羧基体组装、结构和功能的理解，并为蓝藻和趋化自养细菌如何调节二氧化碳的固定提供见解。更广泛的影响：细菌对二氧化碳的吸收对我们了解全球碳循环和气候变化的影响很重要，而对羧基体的了解与我们设计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，包括来自科学领域代表性不足群体的学生。向未被充分代表的少数民族高中和初中教师和学生伸出援手，将为他们提供参与本研究项目的机会。

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.