Project description:Here we have compared adult wildtype (N2) C. elegans gene expression when grown on different bacterial environments/fod sources in an effort to model naturally occuring nematode-bacteria interactions at the Konza Prairie. We hypothesize that human-induced changes to natural environments, such as the addition of nitrogen fertalizer, have effects on the bacterial community in soils and this drives downstream changes in the structure on soil bacterial-feeding nematode community structure. Here we have used transcriptional profiling to identify candidate genes involved in the interaction of nematodes and bacteria in nature.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in Streptomyces sp. SirexAA-E (ActE) when grown on different carbon sources. The results of this study demonstrate that ActE upregulates a small number of genes specific for the utilization of the avaliable carbon source. Cellulolytic Streptomyces sp. SirexAA-E (ActE), isolated from the pinewood-boring wasp Sirex noctilio, has a genome enriched for biomass utilization. The secreted proteomes obtained from growth on pure polysaccharides catalyzed hydrolysis of cellulose, mannan, and xylan with specific activities comparable to Spezyme CP, a commercial cellulase preparation. During reaction of an ActE secretome with cellulose, reducing sugar release was markedly stimulated in the presence of O2. ActE also expresses and secretes an expanded repertoire of enzymes during growth on natural and pre-treated biomass. These results indicate a new microbial contribution to biomass utilization that is widely distributed in natural environments by insects
Project description:Kentrophoros ciliates are found worldwide in coastal marine sediment, and have an obligate symbiosis with sulfur-oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria called Candidatus Kentron. The genomes of different Kentron species suggest that they are chemolithoheterotrophs, producing new biomass from organic carbon substrates. We investigated the metaproteome of Kentrophoros sp. H and its symbiont (from two sites in the Mediterranean), to verify that hypothesized pathways of carbon and energy metabolism are indeed expressed, and to estimate the stable isotope fractionation in biomass, which can be a signature of the carbon sources used by the organism.
Project description:Plant biomass is the most abundant and renewable carbon source for many fungal species. The composition of biomass consists of about 40-45% cellulose, 20-30% hemicellulose, and 15-25% lignin and varies among plant species. In the bio-based industry, Aspergillus species and other fungi are used for the production of lignocellulolytic enzymes to pretreat agricultural waste biomass (e.g. wheat bran). In this study, we aimed to evaluate if it would be possible to create an Aspergillus strain that releases but does not metabolize hexoses from plant biomass. For this purpose, metabolic mutants were generated that were (partially) impaired in glycolysis, by deleting the hexokinase (hxkA) and glucokinase (glkA) genes. To prevent repression of enzyme production due to the accumulation of hexoses, strains were generated in which these mutations were combined with a mutation in creA, encoding the repressor involved in carbon catabolism. Phenotypic analysis revealed that growth of the ΔhxkAΔglkA mutant was reduced on wheat bran. However, hexoses did not accumulate during growth of the mutants on wheat bran, suggesting that glucose metabolism is re-routed towards alternative carbon catabolic pathways. Deletion of creA combined with blocking glycolysis resulted in an increased expression of pentose catabolic and phosphate pathway genes. This indicates that the reduced ability to use hexoses as carbon sources has resulted in a shift towards the pentose fraction of wheat bran as a major carbon source to support growth.