Exploring oxalate metabolism and C transfer in bacterial-fungal interactions in the context of a soil carbon-storing biogeochemical process
EMSL Project ID
60184
Abstract
Bacterial-fungal interactions (BFI) in the rhizosphere impart a myriad of beneficial functions to plant and soil health as well as play important roles in biogeochemical cycling in soils. However, the metabolic mechanisms mediating these interactions remain shrouded due to the innate biotic and abiotic complexity of terrestrial ecosystems. The oxalate-carbonate pathway (OCP) is a soil biogeochemical process involving metabolic interactions between plants, fungi, and bacteria. Oxalate produced and excreted by oxalogenic plants and fungi forms complexes with calcium, generating calcium-oxalate (CaOx) precipitates. Oxalotrophic bacteria utilize oxalate as a carbon and energy source, generating CO2 and an increase in soil alkalinity. This in turn leads to the formation of a terrestrial carbon sink through increased dissolved inorganic carbon in the soil and/or CaCO3 biomineralization. Consequently, the OCP has been suggested as a prevalent, yet underestimated, atmospheric carbon sink. The remaining gaps in our understanding of the OCP center on the metabolic pathways and connections between the participating fungal and bacterial partners. This proposal will address these gaps utilizing key technologies at EMSL to characterize these pathways and metabolic relationships through the use of molecular, metabolite, and quantitative imaging analyses. Expanding our knowledge on BFI within the OCP will provide access to novel approaches to improving soil fertility and plant growth for biofuel production, as well as management tools for terrestrial carbon sequestration.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2021-12-01
End Date
2023-04-21
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members