Ohio State Receives DOE Grant To Study Energy-Producing Bacteria
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State University's new program to study the mechanisms that control microbial metabolism holds promise for the creation of alternative energy sources.
Robert Tabita
Scientists will also explore ways to use microbes to
remove greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, from the atmosphere
as well as how these microorganisms can degrade toxic compounds.
The Department of Energy awarded $2.1 million to seven institutions who will participate in a three-year Microbial Cell Project. Ohio State will lead the consortium and receive about $900,000 of the total grant.
We can also trick Rhodopseudomonas
palustris into producing huge quantities of hydrogen gas,
which can be used as an energy source.
Led by Robert
Tabita, an eminent scholar and a professor of microbiology
and plant biology, researchers here will study how the bacterium
Rhodopseudomonas palustris metabolizes gases such as carbon
dioxide, nitrogen and hydrogen. R. palustris can also produce
hydrogen gas and break down chemicals such as sulfur.
"With the depletion of coal and fossil fuels, we need to harness microbes' abilities to help produce usable sources of energy, such as hydrogen and methane," he said. "Microorganisms play a huge role in creating different types of energy."
R. palustris is found everywhere; it's common in dry and wet environments.
"Some bacteria absorb carbon dioxide, some produce energy, others degrade or oxidize hydrogen or other more complex compounds, and some can convert nitrogen gas to ammonia, a process important to agriculture," Tabita said. "But R. palustris is the only organism thus far described that can do it all.
"We can also trick R. palustris into producing huge quantities of hydrogen gas, which can be used as an energy source," he said.
The DOE hopes that the Microbial Cell Project will let scientists start writing a comprehensive "owner's manual" for key microbes. Scientists already know the complete gene sequence for R. palustris; they now want to know what the individual parts do and how they're controlled.
"We have the genetic blueprint, now we can start learning how the organism integrates and controls all parts of the blueprint," Tabita said.
Apart from causing certain illnesses, bacteria have many worthwhile functions.
"Virtually every natural process that takes place on the earth is driven by microorganisms," Tabita said. "We wouldn't have plants if we didn't have microbial activity. And if we didn't have plants, we wouldn't have oxygen."
Tabita also directs Ohio State's Plant-Microbe Genomics Facility, where he and his colleagues will conduct much of Ohio State's portion of the Microbial Cell Project. The Facility has the equipment necessary for decoding DNA; that is, researchers can determine which genes a microorganism uses when assimilating or synthesizing particular gases or chemicals.
Ohio State will team with investigators from the University of Iowa, University of British Columbia, UCLA, and the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington.
# Contact: Robert Tabita, 614-292-4297; Tabita.1@osu.edu Written by Holly Wagner, 614-292-8310; Wagner.235@osu.edu