An integrated ecophysiology and omics study of phosphorus limitation in methane-oxidising bacteria (EcoMethane)

甲烷氧化细菌中磷限制的综合生态生理学和组学研究（EcoMacet）

• 批准号: EP/Y037227/1
• 负责人: Yin Chen
• 金额: $ 260.23万
• 依托单位: University of Birmingham
• 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%2FY037227%2F1
• 关键词: integrated; ecophysiology; omics; study; phosphorus

Methane is a potent atmospheric greenhouse gas with concentrations continuing to increase in the past decade,leading to a recent global effort at COP26 in Glasgow to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030. Methane-oxidising bacteria (methanotrophs) use methane as a carbon and energy source, helping to mitigate as much as 90%of methane emissions. As such, methanotrophs play a vital role in the global methane cycle and any disturbance,biotic or abiotic, of methanotroph activity in the natural environment would exert significant impacts on our abilityto limit global warming by 1.5 degrees celsius by 2030. However, very little is known about how methanotroph activity isregulated in the real world, particularly by key nutrients like phosphorus (P), a limiting nutrient constraining plantand microbial growth in many ecosystems. Using Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b as the model, I havedemonstrated that methanotrophs can reduce their cellular P quota in response to P limitation by substitutingmembrane phospholipids with alternative non-P surrogate glycolipids. The genes involved in this so-called lipidremodelling pathway are strictly conserved in all proteobacterial methanotrophs, suggesting that lipid remodellingis a conserved trait in methanotrophs. However, the ecological and physiological consequences of such anadaptation to P limitation are unknown. This is important because it may have important consequences formethanotroph activity and mortality (biotic interactions of methanotrophs with protist grazers and bacteriophages),thus affecting the global methane budget. Here, I aim to use an integrated omics approach to uncover theecophysiology of methanotrophs and their response to P limitation in both model methanotrophs and in their naturalhabitat. The outcomes of this project will fill a major knowledge gap in our understanding of methanotroph activityin the natural environment

甲烷是一种强有力的大气温室气体，在过去十年中浓度持续增加，导致最近在格拉斯哥举行的COP26上的全球努力，到2030年将甲烷排放量减少30%。甲烷氧化菌（甲烷氧化菌）利用甲烷作为碳源和能源，有助于减少多达90%的甲烷排放。因此，甲烷氧化菌在全球甲烷循环中起着至关重要的作用，任何对自然环境中甲烷氧化菌活动的生物或非生物干扰都会对我们到2030年将全球变暖限制在1.5摄氏度的能力产生重大影响。然而，关于甲烷氧化菌的活性在真实的世界中是如何调节的，特别是在许多生态系统中由关键营养素如磷（P）（限制植物和微生物生长的限制性营养素）调节的，知之甚少。以发孢甲基弯菌OB3b为模型，我证明了甲烷氧化菌可以通过用非磷替代糖脂替代膜磷脂来减少其细胞磷配额。参与这种所谓的脂质重塑途径的基因在所有的蛋白细菌甲烷氧化菌中是严格保守的，这表明脂质重塑是甲烷氧化菌的保守特征。然而，这种适应磷限制的生态和生理后果是未知的。这一点很重要，因为它可能对甲烷氧化菌的活动和死亡率（甲烷氧化菌与原生食草动物和噬菌体的生物相互作用）产生重要影响，从而影响全球甲烷预算。在这里，我的目标是使用一个综合的组学方法来揭示甲烷氧化菌的生理生态学和他们的反应，在模式甲烷氧化菌和他们的自然栖息地的磷限制。这个项目的结果将填补我们对自然环境中甲烷氧化菌活性的理解的一个主要知识空白