OIL & GAS

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis will partner with the W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL) at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to embark on a "grand challenge" — an innovative, multidisciplinary project — to explore scientific enigmas in microbiology. The results of this Grand Challenge will provide the first comprehensive systems level understanding of how environmental conditions influence key carbon fixation processes at the gene-protein-organism level. This Grand Challenge topic was selected because it addresses critical DOE science needs, provides model microorganisms to apply high throughput biology and computational modeling, and because it takes advantage of EMSL's experimental and computational capabilities. One, led by Washington University biology professor Himadri Pakrasi, Ph.D., and PNNL laboratory fellow David Koppenaal, Ph.D., will investigate the biology of membrane proteins in cyanobacteria, important microorganisms involving photosynthesis in the world's oceans. Choosing Pakrasi as the leader of the Grand Challenge Project marks the first time that DOE has chosen a university scientist the leader of such a project in a National Laboratory. "This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity," Pakrasi said. "If successful, it could open the doors for similar other projects." Another, not involving Washington University, is led by PNNL laboratory fellows and chief scientists John Zachara and Jim Fredrickson, is probing the fundamental question of how subsurface metal-reducing bacteria interact with and transfer electrons to the mineral surfaces on which they live. More than two dozen researchers from 16 institutions will participate in the three-to five-year studies, with a PNNL investment of $2 million a year for each grand challenge, or around $10 million for the life of the projects. Investigators anticipate that the grand challenges will yield new information on issues ranging from how energy and nutrient transport occurs between microbes and their environment, to how microorganisms influence Earth's soil and water chemistry, with potential applications that include groundwater remediation, carbon sequestration, and energy generation. Pakrasi is leading a Grand Challenge Project in membrane biology that will use a systems approach to understand the network of genes and proteins that govern the structure and function of membranes and their components responsible for photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). His co-principal investigator is Bijoy Ghosh, Ph.D., Washington University professor of electrical and systems science. This Grand Challenge will also involve the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Purdue University, St. Louis University, and the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology in Shanghai, China. "This is a fabulous opportunity for Biology, Arts & Sciences and for the visibility of Washington University to be the center for such a project," said Ralph S. Quatrano, Ph.D., Spencer T. Olin Professor and chair of the Washington University biology department. "Dr. Pakrasi has assembled a great team with broad expertise focused on a specific problem that will have far-reaching effects and applications in the future. Our department is very proud of his leadership and scientific capabilities." A systems approach integrates all temporal information into a predictive, dynamic model to understand the function of a cell and the cellular membranes. Cyanobacteria make significant contributions to harvesting solar energy, planetary carbon sequestration, metal acquisition, and hydrogen production in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Specifically, Pakrasi's Grand Challenge will focus on the amazing cyanobacterium Cyanothece, a one-celled marine cyanobacterium, the only bacteria with a circadian rhythm, or biological clock. In particular, Cyanothece has the uncanny ability to fix oxygen through photosynthesis during the day while fixing nitrogen through the night. Incredibly, even though the organism has a circadian rhythm, its cells grow and divide in ten to fourteen hours. "This is a mystery in biology," said Pakrasi. "Why does an organism do this and yet have a circadian rhythm? It must be that it gains something. We intend to find out." To unravel the mystery, Pakrasi and his collaborators will be growing Cyanothece cells in photobioreactors, testing cells every hour to try to understand its light cycle at different times of the day. With the combined diverse expertise of 14 different laboratories, the Grand Challenge scientists and engineers will examine numerous biological aspects of the organism. EMSL's unique and broad-ranging experimental and computational facilities are central to the approach for the projects. "EMSL is already one of Department of Energy's most successful national user facilities," said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, "so it is a fitting place to attempt such ambitious grand challenges, where we can pair large groups of our most talented scientists with our most sophisticated analytical tools to look at very specific and vexing scientific problems. We are hopeful that this approach will become a model for collaborative research at EMSL and other DOE facilities." "We are bringing together international expertise to advance an area of science in ways that haven't been possible before." Said Allison Campbell, EMSL director. "A combination of world-class minds, methods and capabilities uniquely positions PNNL and EMSL to deliver answers to the grand challenge questions these teams are addressing."