Genomic characterization of rare earth binding by Shewanella oneidensis.

Rare earth elements (REE) are essential ingredients of sustainable energy technologies, but separation of individual REE is one of the hardest problems in chemistry today. Biosorption, where molecules adsorb to the surface of biological materials, offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful solvent extractions currently used for separation of rare earth elements (REE). The REE-biosorption capability of some microorganisms allows for REE separations that, under specialized conditions, are already competitive with solvent extractions, suggesting that genetic engineering could allow it to leapfrog existing technologies.

Practical and thermodynamic constraints on electromicrobially accelerated CO mineralization.

By the end of the century, tens of gigatonnes of CO will need to be removed from the atmosphere every year to maintain global temperatures. Natural weathering of ultramafic rocks and subsequent mineralization reactions can convert CO into ultra-stable carbonates. Although this will draw down all excess CO, it will take thousands of years.

Generation of a Gluconobacter oxydans knockout collection for improved extraction of rare earth elements.

Bioleaching of rare earth elements (REEs), using microorganisms such as Gluconobacter oxydans, offers a sustainable alternative to environmentally harmful thermochemical extraction, but is currently not very efficient. Here, we generate a whole-genome knockout collection of single-gene transposon disruption mutants for G. oxydans B58, to identify genes affecting the efficacy of REE bioleaching.

Signaling events during initiation of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Under nutrient-limiting conditions, plants will enter into symbiosis with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi for the enhancement of mineral nutrient acquisition from the surrounding soil. AM fungi live in close, intracellular association with plant roots where they transfer phosphate and nitrogen to the plant in exchange for carbon. They are obligate fungi, relying on their host as their only carbon source.

Gene silencing in Medicago truncatula roots using RNAi.

Medicago truncatula is used widely as a model system for studies of root symbioses, interactions with parasitic nematodes and fungal pathogens, as well as studies of development and secondary metabolism. In Medicago truncatula as well as other legumes, RNA interference (RNAi) coupled with Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated root transformation, has been used very successfully for analyses of gene function in roots. One of the major advantages of this approach is the ease and relative speed with which transgenic roots can be generated.

A new means to identify type 3 secreted effectors: functionally interchangeable class IB chaperones recognize a conserved sequence.

Unlabelled: Many Gram-negative bacteria utilize specialized secretion systems to inject proteins (effectors) directly into host cells. Little is known regarding how bacteria ensure that only small subsets of the thousands of proteins they encode are recognized as substrates of the secretion systems, limiting their identification through bioinformatic analyses. Many of these proteins require chaperones to direct their secretion.

Protein interaction platforms: visualization of interacting proteins in yeast.

Here we describe the protein interaction platform assay, a method for identifying interacting proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This assay relies on the reovirus scaffolding protein microNS, which forms large focal inclusions in living cells. When a query protein is fused to microNS and potential interaction partners are fused to a fluorescent reporter, interactors can be identified by screening for yeast that display fluorescent foci.