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

稀土元素是一种被认为太不溶性和稀缺而不能在生物学中发挥作用的金属，因此没有被研究或包括在任何生物实验条件中。然而，现在已经知道，这些金属会影响环境细菌的生长，尤其是那些消耗甲烷和甲醇等化合物的细菌。该项目将描述稀土元素驱动新细胞功能的程度，从新酶和途径的表征，到确定稀土元素生物化学对其环境的影响。这项研究的结果将导致已经用于生产生物燃料和生物塑料的生物平台的技术改进，并将扩大开发生物采矿和生物刺激剂平台的努力，从而改变能源和农业产业。该项目的发展将允许通过在课堂上整合数据分析和开发实验来培训研究生和本科生；同时也可以培养两名博士后研究员。此外，包括高中生发展实验项目将提供一个独特的机会来发展真正的研究，可以包括在同行评审的手稿。稀土金属是高度不溶的，然而细菌能够获得并利用这些金属来生长。这里的研究将定义细菌如何能够1)清除这些金属，一旦进入细胞，2)哪些酶和途径依赖于稀土元素的功能。初步结果表明，稀土回收涉及一个与依赖于tonb的铁清除途径平行的系统，并且稀土作为辅助因子的使用超出了迄今为止所描述的少数醇脱氢酶。最后，稀土代谢影响细菌与宿主的相互作用，从而促进植物生长。通过结合使用系统级方法（基因组学、转录组学、代谢组学）以及表型、遗传和生化方法，当稀土存在时，支持生长的代谢网络将被解开。

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.