Spatiotemporal mapping of lignocellulose decomposition by a naturally evolved fungal garden microbial consortium
EMSL Project ID
60609
Abstract
Some microbial communities composed of bacteria and fungi can readily breakdown plant matter into its component sugars. Leaf-cutter ants take advantage of such microbial communities by maintaining fungal gardens that release energy-rich carbohydrates from plant biomass. As these decomposition products are released, they are consumed by bacteria that also live in the garden and in turn, further transform those products into nutrients that promote fungal growth. This symbiotic system has great potential for biological production of biofuels and bioproduct precursors from plant biomass. However, the identity of most of the microbial species and their precise role within the fungal gardens is not known. This project will carry out a multi-omics approach to uncover the mechanisms that drive cooperative fungal-bacterial interactions that result in the degradation of lignocellulosic plant material extracted from the fungal garden ecosystem. To understand how the fungal garden is able to degrade plant matter with such efficiency, it is necessary to study the metabolic interactions and biochemical pathways utilized by its microorganisms in each microscopic region of the fungal garden. This research will accomplish that with a novel microscale proteomics approach that can analyze very small samples, providing detailed information on the location and function of fungal and bacterial proteins. This approach will provide the knowledge needed for a predictive systems-level understanding of the fungal-bacterial metabolic and signaling interactions that occur during cellulose deconstruction in an efficient, natural ecosystem and should provide new strategies for generating precursors of advanced biofuels. This knowledge will provide the foundation for developing efficient consortia composed by well-defined and optimized microbial strains to efficiently produce valuable compounds from lignocellulosic feedstocks, advancing DOE’s goal of developing sustainable bioenergy resources.
Project Details
Start Date
2022-10-01
End Date
N/A
Status
Active
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members