This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
0933145 Orianna Bretschger
Intellectual merit
Research has shown that Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) systems can be used as cultivation tools to isolate microbial biofilms that perform Extracellular Electron Transfer (EET) to electrode surfaces. The Principal Investigators (PIs) will use MFC systems inoculated with wastewater samples to isolate phylogenetically diverse biofilms that perform EET. These biofilms will be characterized by applying metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses to explore diversity and gene expression associated with changes in MFC operation. These data will be used to: 1) identify genes associated with EET; 2) elucidate EET pathway in the microbial community; 3) devise strategies for controlling community dynamics for stable systems operation; 4) create new genetic markers that can be used to monitor EET in-situ during system operation. Furthermore, the knowledge gained about gene families associated with EET can be applied to other biotechnology applications that are controlled by EET processes, such as biosensors and fermentation technology. These data can also be employed in a bioinformatics effort to identify candidate organisms that could serve as ideal biocatalysts in biotechnology applications reliant on EET reactions.
Broader impacts
This project contributes to a broader impact by: 1) providing opportunities for postdoctoral research, publication opportunities, and presentations at scientific meetings; 2) facilitating interdisciplinary undergraduate research in the areas of molecular biology, electrochemistry, genome sequencing and metatranscriptomic analyses; and 3) utilizing the developed bioelectrochemical systems as demonstration tools for community outreach programs including the San Diego Science Festival and local high school speaking opportunities. In addition to research opportunities, post-doctoral fellows will also be involved with grant writing, and mentored about career development and collaborative research opportunities within other institutions. Undergraduate interns will be integrated into the publication development process and invited to present their research during JCVI group meetings and seminars. This research is expected to produce numerous peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals, which will contribute to the professional development of the new PI, post-doctoral fellows and undergraduate interns.
