Project description:We report here a methanotroph, Methylotuvimicrobium buryatense 5GB1C, that consumes methane at 500ppm at rates several times higher than any previously published. Analyses of bioreactor-based performance and RNAseq based transcriptomics suggest that this superior ability to utilize low methane is based at least in part on an extremely low non-growth associated maintenance energy and on a 5-fold higher methane specific affinity than previous reports.
Project description:RNA-Seq profiling of Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum strain 20Z grown in batch on methane. The RNA-Seq work is one part of a systems approach to characterizing metabolism of 20Z during growth on methane. We demonstrate that methane assimilation is coupled with a highly efficient pyrophosphate-mediated glycolytic pathway, which under O2 limitation participates in a novel form of fermentation-based methanotrophy. This surprising discovery suggests a novel mode of methane utilization in oxygen-limited environments, and opens new opportunities for a modular approach towards producing a variety of excreted chemical products using methane as a feedstock.
Project description:RNA-Seq profiling of Methylomicrobium alcaliphilum strain 20Z grown in batch on methane. The RNA-Seq work is one part of a systems approach to characterizing metabolism of 20Z during growth on methane. We demonstrate that methane assimilation is coupled with a highly efficient pyrophosphate-mediated glycolytic pathway, which under O2 limitation participates in a novel form of fermentation-based methanotrophy. This surprising discovery suggests a novel mode of methane utilization in oxygen-limited environments, and opens new opportunities for a modular approach towards producing a variety of excreted chemical products using methane as a feedstock. Four replicates of batch growth
Project description:Oral administration of an extract of compost fermented with thermophiles to pigs reduces the incidence of stillbirth and promotes piglet growth. However, the mechanism by which compost extract modulates the physiological conditions of the animals remains largely unknown. Here, we investigate the effects of compost extract on the gene expression in the intestine of the rat as a mammalian model. Gene expression analyses of the intestine indicated that several immune-related genes were upregulated following compost exposure. Thus, thermophile-fermented compost can contain microbes and/or substances that activate the gut mucosal immune response in the rat.
Project description:Composts are the products obtained after the aerobic degradation of different types of organic matter wastes and can be used as substrates or substrate/soil amendments. There are a small but increasing number of reports that suggest that foliar diseases may be reduced when using compost as growing medium compared to standard substrates. The purpose of this study was to unravel the gene expression alteration produced by the compost to gain knowledge about the mechanisms involved in the compost-induced systemic resistance. A compost from olive marc and olive tree leaves was able to induce resistance against Botrytis cinerea in Arabidopsis compared to the standard substrate perlite. Microarray analyses revealed that 178 genes were differently expressed with a fold change cut off of 1 from which 155 were upregulated and 23 were down regulated in compost-grown compared to perlite-grown plants. Functional enrichment study of up regulated genes revealed that 38 Gene Ontology terms were significantly enriched. Response to stress, biotic stimulus, other organism, bacterium, fungus, chemical and abiotic stimulus, SA and ABA stimulus, oxidative stress, water, temperature and cold were significantly enriched terms as well as immune and defense responses, systemic acquired resistance, secondary metabolic process and oxireductase activity. Interestingly, PR1 expression, which was equally enhanced by growing the plants in compost and by B. cinerea inoculation, was further boosted in compost-grown pathogen-inoculated plants. Compost triggered a plant response that shares similarities with both systemic acquired resistance and ABA dependent/independent abiotic stress responses.
Project description:The white button mushroom Agaricus bisporus is the most widely produced edible fungus with a great economical value. Its commercial cultivation process is often performed on wheat straw and animal manure based compost that mainly contains lignocellulosic material as a source of carbon and nutrients for the mushroom production. As a large portion of compost carbohydrates are left unused in the current mushroom cultivation process, the aim of this work was to study wild-type A. bisporus strains for their potential to convert the components that are poorly utilized by the commercial strain A15. Growth profiling suggested different abilities for several A. bisporus strains to use plant biomass derived polysaccharides, as well as to transport and metabolize the corresponding monomeric sugars. Six wild-type isolates with diverse growth profiles were compared for mushroom production to A15 strain in semi-commercial cultivation conditions. Transcriptome and proteome analyses of the three most interesting wild-type strains and A15 indicated that the unrelated A. bisporus strains degrade and convert plant biomass polymers in a highly similar manner. This was also supported by the chemical content of the compost during the mushroom production process. Our study therefore reveals a highly conserved physiology for unrelated strains of this species during growth in compost.