ENIGMA researchers compared the availability of elements in non-contaminated and acidic nitrate contaminated sediment and found that contamination impacted the bioavailability of essential elements.
ENIGMA
Environmental bacteria may have candidate genes for bioremediation
ENIGMA researchers identified important genes for improving Chromate resistance in genetically diverse bacteria through experimental evolution.
To Study Competition and Cross-Feeding, Scientists Build Synthetic Microbiomes
A new study investigated complex interactions among four cross-feeding microorganisms in a synthetic community (SynCom) that converts cellulose to methane and carbon dioxide, paving the way toward a more predictive understanding of the impact of environmental perturbations on microbial interactions sustaining geochemically significant processes in natural systems.
Novel Protocol Leverages Automatic Liquid Transfer to Prepare Hundreds of Microbial Cell Cultures for Proteomic Analysis
ENIGMA researchers detailed a step-by-step protocol that consists of cell lysis in alkaline chemical buffer (NaOH/SDS) followed by protein precipitation with high-ionic strength acetone in 96-well format. This protocol, combined with previously established automated protein quantification and protein normalization protocols, provides a rapid, cost-effective method to prepare LC-MS proteomic samples from bacteria and non-filamentous fungi cell cultures.
Decomposition decreases molecular diversity and ecosystem similarity of soil organic matter
ENIGMA researchers collaborated with the Lehmann Lab at Cornell University to find that microbial decomposition drives significant variability in the molecular richness and diversity of soil organic matter between soil horizons and ecosystems.
Microbial Communities Vary Widely Underground, Even When Close
Study finds that geochemistry and hydrogeology can influence community type and function, even when those communities are only 10 cm apart.
Metal Contamination Causes Metabolic Stress in Environmental Bacteria
ENIGMA researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of Georgia discovered that mixed metal waste common to industrial dumping sites causes a distinctive physiological response in bacteria that does not occur during single metal exposure.
Multicopy suppressor screens reveal convergent evolution of single-gene lysis proteins
Using new barcoded screening technology, ENIGMA researchers uncovered genome-wide targets of diverse including single-stranded RNA-phages (ssRNA-phages)-derived protein antibiotics to efficiently identify the host mechanisms targeted in bacteriolysis. The novel approach could have significant applications for characterizing the hundreds of putative Sgl identified in genomic databases and recent studies.