Uncovering proteogenomic patterns on an evolutionary gradient of termite gut Verrucomicrobia isolates.
EMSL Project ID
30197
Abstract
Cellulositic biomass for biofuel conversion is inexpensive and abundant, but efficient biotransformation is still a challenge. Wood-feeding termites harbor a microbial community dedicated to degrade cellulose. Among the microbial players, five strains of the phylum Verrucomicrobium, namely Termite Associate Verrucomicrobium (TAV), were isolated representing an evolutionary gradient from closely related strains to distant related species. The sequenced genome of the strain TAV2 has revealed entire pathways dedicated to the functional maintenance of the termite hindgut, such as nitrogen fixation, cytochrome oxidases, and carbohydrate metabolism. It is unknown if these important functional properties can be extended to other members of the population without the need of new genomes being sequenced. The scientific goals of this research are guide by the following questions: 1) What is the proteomic diversity among Verrucomicrobium strains?; 2) Can proteomic differences at quantitative level indicate differences in posttranslational regulation?; and 3) How far on an evolutionary gradient can proteogenomics be used to gain insights into the genetic information within strains of the same species and nearby species? To answer these questions, the proteomic profiles of these five strains will be initially resolved using a peptide centric approach (bottom-up) for database development and comparative proteomic analysis. A protein centric approach (top-down) will follow with two purposes: A) to extend proteogenomic information to other strains based on the anchor TAV2 genome, and B) to profile a subset of proteins related to carbohydrate utilization. This research will advance the knowledge on interspecific variation at the level that matters to ecosystem functioning, proteins. In addition, it will provide predictive power by extending proteogenomic information to non-sequenced genomes.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2009-02-01
End Date
2010-02-07
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator