Project description:The marine obligate hydrocarbonoclastic bacterium Thalassolituus oleivorans MIL-1 metabolises a broad range of aliphatic hydrocarbons almost exclusively as carbon and energy sources. We used LC-MS/MS shotgun proteomics to identify proteins involved in aerobic alkane degradation during growth on medium- (n-C14) or long-chain (n-C28) alkanes.
Project description:Lignin is a biopolymer found in plant cell walls that accounts for 30% of the organic carbon in the biosphere. White-rot fungi (WRF) are considered the most efficient organisms at degrading lignin in Nature. While lignin depolymerization by WRF has been exhaustively studied, the possibility that WRF are able to utilize lignin as a carbon source is still a matter of controversy. Here we employ 13C-labeling and systems biology approaches to demonstrate that two WRF, Trametes versicolor and Gelatoporia subvermispora, funnel lignin-derived aromatic compounds into central carbon metabolism via intracellular catabolic pathways. These results provide insights into global carbon cycling in soil ecosystems, and furthermore establishes a foundation for employing WRF in simultaneous lignin depolymerization and bioconversion to bioproducts – a key step towards enabling a sustainable bioeconomy.
Project description:Microplastics represent a growing environmental concern for the oceans due to their potential capability to adsorb different classes of pollutants, thus representing a still unexplored source of exposure for aquatic organisms. In this study polystyrene (PS) microplastics were characterized for their capability to adsorb pyrene (PYR) as model compound for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and transfer this chemical to filter feeding mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis. Gene expression analyses of Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to polystyrene (PS) microplastics and to polystyrene contaminated with pyrene (PS-PYR) have been performed trough a DNA microarray platform.
Project description:Influence of the constant full-spectrum light and short-to-long wavelengths of the visible spectrum (red, green and blue lights) and the significance of 12 h photoperiod was tested on heterotrophic marine flavobacteria Siansivirga zeaxanthinifaciens CC-SAMT-1T. RNA-seq analysis revealed remarkable qualitative and quantitative variations in terms of gene expression in CC-SAMT-1T with respect to incident lights. While blue light illumination stimulated expression of genes involved in inorganic carbon metabolism, green˗red lights largely upregulated the genes participating in high-molecular-weight (HMW) organic carbon metabolism. Constant full-spectrum light also displayed the upregulation of genes involved in the metabolism of HMW organic carbon. Thus, the short-to-long wavelengths of visible light and the 12 h photoperiod most likely to play a key role in the marine carbon cycle by tuning heterotrophic bacterial metabolism.
