Microbial Communities Group
Some of the most pressing needs in advancing lignocellulosic fuels production are the identification, isolation, and manipulation of new enzymes that are capable of efficiently degrading biomass. These enzymes will be used by the Deconstruction Division's Enzyme Optimization group to engineer improved lignocellulolytic enzymes and enzyme cocktails capable of efficiently liberating monomeric sugars from pretreated biomass. There exist several unexplored microbial communities that are promising candidates for further analysis and exploitation, such as those found on the rain forest floor and within compost. The compost environment is nutrient rich, whereas the rain forest floor is nutrient deficient, and it is apparent that the two communities have very different mechanisms in place for degrading lignocellulose. We will study both communities using a targeted, function-based approach to establish a means of comparing these newly-isolated lignocellulolytic enzymes. These efforts will leverage unique U.S. Department of Energy facilities, such as the Joint Genome Institute (http://www.jgi.doe.gov/) and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/emslweb/), to develop a comprehensive knowledge base of genomic and proteomic characteristics of these adapted communities.
Figure 1. Schematic depiction of JBEI's technical approach in the analysis of microbial communities, highlighting the function-based strategy.
Objectives
- Develop a fundamental understanding of how microbial communities degrade targeted biomass feedstocks.
- Utilize a targeted, function-based screening approach to genomics and proteomics.
- Identify, isolate, and characterize enzymes from microbial communities.
- Understand how microbial communities adapt to extreme environmental pressures such as temperature, pH, and the presence of solvents.
