CAREER: Uncovering rare earth elements biochemistry: From enzymes to ecosystems

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Rare earth elements are metals that were thought to be too insoluble and scarce to play a role in biology and therefore were not studied or included in any biological experimental conditions. However, it is now known that these metals impact the growth of environmental bacteria, particularly those that consume compounds such as methane and methanol. This project will describe the extent in which rare earth elements drive novel cellular functions, from the characterization of new enzymes and pathways, to identifying the effect of rare earth element biochemistry on its environment. Results from this research will lead to technological improvements of biological platforms that already serve for production of biofuels and bioplastics, and will also expand efforts into developing biomining and biostimulants platforms, transforming both the energy and agricultural industries. The development of the project will allow for training of students, both graduate and undergraduate, by integrating data analyses in classes and by developing experiments; as well as allow for the training of two postdoctoral researchers. Further, inclusion of high school students to develop experiments of the project will provide a unique opportunity to develop real research that can be included in peer reviewed manuscripts. Rare earth metals are highly insoluble and yet bacteria are able to acquire and use these metals for growth. Research herein will define how bacteria are able to 1) scavenge these metals, and once inside the cell, 2) what enzymes and pathways rely on rare earth elements for functionality. Preliminary results suggest that rare earths recovery involves a parallel system to the TonB-dependent Fe scavenging pathway, and that the use of rare earths as cofactors expands beyond the few alcohol dehydrogenases described until now. Finally, rare earth metabolism affects bacterial interactions with its host resulting in biostimulation of plant growth. By using a combination of system-level approaches (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics) along with phenotypic, genetic and biochemical approaches, the metabolic network supporting growth when rare earths are present will be unraveled.