Transcriptome analysis of methanotrophic microbe Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20ZR during cultivation in the presence of rare-earth elements.
EMSL Project ID
60884
Abstract
Owing to their unique physical properties, rare-earth elements (REEs) are key resources for developing new clean and advanced manufacturing technologies. Most of these elements, however, are not concentrated within deposits but co-occur as accessory components in numerous minerals 1. Consequently, REE mining requires tremendous energy inputs both on-site and during transport—to remove bulk deposits followed by a high degree of processing, which entails significant production of hazardous waste 2. Overall, the cost and process intensity are the key driving factors shaping the market that depends on foreign suppliers, some of which employ unfair trade practices that negatively impact US miners and manufacturers. This creates an urgent need to provide transformative approaches to cost-effective, less energy-demanding and environmentally friendly technologies for REE production that rely on national supplies. To address this, we assembled a team of scientists and engineers from academia and national labs and augmented it with industrial partners to develop a novel technology for REE capture from alkaline bauxite tailings. For this, we will use an integrated bio-based process founded on the unique natural ability of haloalkaliphilic methylotrophic bacteria to sequester and incorporate lanthanides from the environment into core enzymatic machinery essential for the organism viability 3-5. Leveraging our expertise in methylotrophic biology and our extensive collection of environmental isolates derived from highly alkaline (pH 8.5-11) habitats that also feature extremes in various physicochemical parameters (salinity, temperature, metal load, and oxygen tension), we will carry out a detailed multi-omics and physiological characterization of cellular- and molecular-level pathways for high-affinity REE chelation and cellular deposition operating at high pH. All putative mechanisms emerging from these activities will be further validated via high-throughput genetic characterization in conjunction with spectroscopic and imaging approaches.
Project Details
Start Date
2023-04-24
End Date
2023-10-01
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator