Investigating the metabolic cooperation between a phototrophic bacterium and a methanogenic archaeon

甲烷是一种强大的温室气体，产甲烷古菌是生物产甲烷的重要微生物。一些产甲烷古菌产生的甲烷通过与其他微生物的相互作用而得到促进。该项目的目标是使用一个模型微生物群落来更好地了解这些相互作用，以及微生物如何在环境中发现甲烷。这个项目将为本科生和高中生的教育模块以及当地高中教师的研讨会提供灵感。该项目旨在了解光养细菌和产甲烷古菌之间的代谢合作或“syntrophy”，以揭示这种相互作用在缺氧（缺氧）环境中碳和能量流动的潜在作用，并将其开发用于依赖光的甲烷生产。该研究将探讨这一过程如何通过固氮影响氮循环。这项工作将验证光养菌和产甲烷菌在缺氧生态系统中相互作用的假设，并且这种共生可以利用二氧化碳和/或其他废弃有机碳源进行光驱动产甲烷。由于两个相互关联的原因，研究光养细菌和产甲烷古菌之间的共生关系很重要。首先，对这种生长策略、共同代谢活动和种间电子转移机制的详细了解将有助于阐明这些特征如何促进海洋缺氧环境下的碳和电子流动。其次，这些研究将为创建和优化工程群落的应用奠定基础，如二氧化碳封存和可持续的光依赖性甲烷生物生产。预期的科学影响将是扩大对光养甲烷菌相互作用和二氧化碳和有机碳的光驱动甲烷生成的基本理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and methanogenic archaea are important microbial contributors to biological methane production. Methane produced by some methanogenic archaea is facilitated by interactions with other microorganisms. The goal of this project is to use a model microbial community to better understand not only these interactions, but also how microbial organisms contribute to methane found in the environment. This project will be the inspiration for educational modules for undergraduate and high school students and for a workshop for local high school teachers.This project seeks to understand the metabolic cooperation or “syntrophy” between a phototrophic bacterium and a methanogenic archaeon to shed light on this interaction’s potential role in carbon and energy flow in anoxic (lacking oxygen) environments, and to develop it for light-dependent methane production. The research will investigate how this process influences the nitrogen cycle via nitrogen fixation. The work will test the hypothesis that phototrophs and methanogens interact in anoxic ecosystems and that this syntrophy can be harnessed for light-driven methanogenesis from CO2 and/or other waste organic carbon sources. Studying the syntrophy between a phototrophic bacterium and a methanogenic archaeon is important for two interconnected reasons. First, a detailed understanding of this growth strategy, co-metabolic activity, and interspecies electron transfer mechanisms would shed light on how these features contribute to carbon and electron flow in marine anoxic settings. Second, the studies will set the stage for creating and optimizing engineered communities for applications such as CO2 sequestration, and sustainable light-dependent bioproduction of methane. Anticipated scientific impacts will be to expand the fundamental understanding of both phototroph-methanogen interactions and light-driven methanogenesis from CO2 and organic carbon.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.