Methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere which results in undesirable changes to the climate. The recent surge in methane emissions has invigorated interest of the scientific community to explore the contributions of living microorganisms to both the production and the breakdown of methane. To more deeply understand these processes, this Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-2 Focused EPSCoR Collaborations (RII Track-2 FEC) award will form a new collaborative consortium of three institutions (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Montana State University and University of Oklahoma) for an integrated research and education effort that will focus on organisms that metabolize methane in extreme environments. Sanford Underground Research Facility and Yellowstone National Park will be used as testbeds for extreme environments in deep biosphere and thermal systems, respectively. Further, this consortium will enable the use of previously unexplored and novel microorganisms from extreme environments for biological conversion of atmospheric methane into commercial products including liquid biofuels, biopolymers, and direct current electricity. The project will provide career guidance for twelve early career faculty as well as education, training, and workforce development opportunities for a diverse cohort of junior researchers and graduate, undergraduate, and Native American high school students. Exchange visits among the consortium partners and industry engagement in the project enriches the educational of the student participants.
The overarching goals of this project are to investigate methane cycling in deep and extreme environments and develop new biological routes for converting methane into value-added products. These goals will be accomplished through the following integrated objectives: (i) characterize extreme methane oxidizing microbial communities; (ii) investigate the metabolic activities of novel methanotrophs and their roles in methane flux; (iii) model critical interactions of select members of these communities; (iv) edit genomes of select methanotrophs for phenotypic improvement in methane uptake and oxidation; and (v) establish a consortium for sustained collaborations among university partners in South Dakota, Montana, and Oklahoma in the field of methane regulation in extreme environments. The research will include: analysis of methane flux among novel methanotrophs individually as well as in interacting microbial communities; molecular investigations in genome editing to overexpress methane related synthetic gene cassettes and protein profiling; computational biofilm modeling, in-silico characterization of active sites of regulatory proteins responsible for methane oxidation to determine underlying molecular mechanisms; and bioelectrochemical investigations to elucidate electrogenic activity of new, extremophilic, methanotrophs and evaluate their potential for controllable, catalytic methane oxidation. Activities related to conversion of methane into value-added products facilitates industry engagement and potential career opportunities for students in industries. The program includes mentoring of twelve junior faculty by senior faculty in advancing through their careers and guiding graduate students.
