BioFacts - Biomineral Factories: a platform for the discovery and engineering of biomineralization controls

BioFacts - 生物矿物工厂：生物矿化控制发现和工程设计的平台

• 批准号: EP/Y026446/1
• 负责人: Julie Cosmidis
• 金额: $ 216.98万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY026446%2F1
• 关键词: BioFacts; Biomineral; Factories; platform; discovery

Biominerals are a fascinating testimony of life's capacity to shape the inorganic world. Through the formation of minerals, bacteria participate in fluxes of most elements at the surface of the Earth, having profound impacts on biogeochemical cycles. Biominerals often present properties (e.g., size, shape, composition, structure) that differ from those of their chemically precipitated counterparts, and from one biomineralizing organism to another. These specific properties determine the reactivity and ecological functions of biominerals in the environment. Despite intense research in this topic, there is still little understanding of the biological mechanisms controlling the "mineral phenotype". This fundamental knowledge gap is delaying efforts towards the application of microbial biomineralization processes for the sustainable production of novel materials for industry. Here we will develop a new Raman-based platform for the high-throughput analysis of biominerals in microbial cultures (in-vivo mineralogy). This platform will allow us to screen hundreds of microbial strains at a time and characterize the mineralogical properties of their biomineral products. Using an approach combining CRISPR-based genome editing, next-generation sequencing, comparative genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, we will use this platform to identify key genetic and biomolecular systems controlling the properties of elemental sulfur (S0) biominerals produced by a S-oxidizing bacterium. We will furthermore deploy our screening platform for the evolutionary engineering (directed evolution) of microbial S0 biominerals with tailored properties for diverse technological applications. The methodological breakthroughs enabled by this research will lead to a step change in our fundamental understanding of the biological controls of microbial biomineralization, and pave the way for the future use of bacteria as "biomineral factories" for the industrial bioproduction of high-value materials.

生物矿物是生命塑造无机世界能力的迷人见证。通过形成矿物，细菌参与地球表面大多数元素的流动，对地球化学循环产生深远影响。生物矿物质通常具有以下性质（例如，尺寸、形状、组成、结构），这些特征与化学沉淀的对应物不同，并且从一种生物矿化生物体到另一种生物矿化生物体。这些特性决定了生物矿物在环境中的反应活性和生态功能。尽管在这一主题的密集研究，仍然有一点了解的生物学机制控制的“矿物质表型”。这种基本的知识差距正在推迟微生物生物矿化过程应用于工业新材料可持续生产的努力。在这里，我们将开发一个新的基于拉曼光谱的平台，用于微生物培养物中生物矿物的高通量分析（体内矿物学）。该平台将使我们能够同时筛选数百种微生物菌株，并表征其生物矿物产品的矿物学特性。使用基于CRISPR的基因组编辑，下一代测序，比较基因组学，蛋白质组学和代谢组学相结合的方法，我们将使用这个平台来确定控制元素硫（S0）生物矿物特性的关键遗传和生物分子系统。我们将进一步部署我们的筛选平台，用于微生物S0生物矿物的进化工程（定向进化），具有针对不同技术应用的定制特性。这项研究实现的方法学突破将导致我们对微生物生物矿化的生物控制的基本理解发生根本性变化，并为未来使用细菌作为高价值材料的工业生物生产的“生物矿物工厂”铺平道路。