Project description:Seven carbon autotrophic fixation pathways were described so far. However, it is not common to find the co-existence of more than one cycle in a single cell. Here, we describe a thermophilic bacterium Carbonactinospora thermoautotrophica StC with a unique and versatile carbon metabolism. StC was isolated from a consortium found in a burning organic pile that exhibits an optimal growth temperature between 55° and 65° C. The genome analyses suggested that the strain StC potentially performs two-carbon fixation pathways, Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle and the Reductive citrate cycle (rTCA) and preserve a microcompartment related with CO2 concentration. To better understand the carbon fixation in StC strain, the expression of the genes of bacterial cells grown autotrophically and heterotrophically were analyzed. For our surprise the data showed the co-existing of the both carbon fixation pathways - CBB and rTCA cycles - in a cultivable thermophilic chemoautotrophic bacterium Carbonactinospora thermoautotrophica strain StC, based on integrated omics of genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. These two cycles working together may help microorganisms to improve the CO2 fixation. The knowledge about the co-occurrence of carbon cycle in a single cell leads open a question ‘why microorganisms use multiple pathways to fix carbon and what the advantage for this strategy?’. Advancing on this is a key to better understand the biological carbon fixation mechanism in thermophiles and prospecting the repurposing of enzymes in synthetic biology for biotechnological applications.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in anaerobic, nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation in the chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus denitrificans Here we report on a study to identify genes associated with nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation by whole-genome transcriptional (microarray) assays including the use of FeCO3, Fe2+, and U(IV) oxides as electron donors under denitrifying conditions. A 25 chip study using total RNA recovered from wild-type T. denitrificans was cultivated at 30oC under strictly anaerobic conditions with growth medium that contained 20 mM thiosulfate, 20 mM nitrate, and 30 mM bicarbonate (pH ~7) and exposed to 8 treatments. Each chip measures the expression level of 2832 ORFs with N 24-mer probe pairs (PM/MM) per gene, with three-fold technical redundancy.
Project description:The ideal microorganism for consolidated biomass processing to biofuels has the ability to breakdown of lignocellulose. This issue was examined for the H2-producing, extremely thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus growing on lignocellulose samples as well as model hemicellulose components. Identification of the enzymes utilized by the cell in lignocellulose saccharification was done using whole-genome transcriptional response analysis and comparative genomics.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in anaerobic, nitrate-dependent Fe(II) oxidation in the chemolithoautotrophic bacterium Thiobacillus denitrificans
Project description:Clostridium thermocellum is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium that ferments cellulose into ethanol. It is a candidate industrial consolidated bioprocess (CBP) biocatalyst for lignocellulosic bioethanol production to produce bioethanol directly from cellulosic biomass. However, few transcriptomic studies have been reported so far for C. thermocellum using biomass as carbon source. In this study, samples were taken from exponential and stationary phases of C. thermocellum cells growing in MTC media with pretreated switchgrass as carbon source, and transcriptomic profiling change of C. thermocellum during different growth phase was investigated using both expression array and tiling array. This study will help the understanding of gene expression of C. thermocellum using cellulosic biomass as carbon source and the knowledge will facilitate future metabolic engineering effort for strain improvement.
