IMCS Calendar
|
|
Mapping The Electronic Blueprint of Life |
|
|
|
|
 Paul Falkowski – PI (EPS/IMCS) along with other Rutgers collaborators, Nathan Yee (DES/EPS), Debashish Bhattacharya (DEENR/IMCS), Yana Bromberg (DBM), Max Haggblom (DBM), Vikas Nanda (UMDNJ), and David Case (Biomaps) who have been awarded a $1.075 mil grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for their proposal "Mapping The Electronic Blueprint of Life" to "understand the evolution of the metal-containing enzymes that are responsible for the critical electron transfer reactions across the tree of life".
Project Summary:
Using the extensive metagenome databases developed over the past decade by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF), DOE, and other private and public sources, we propose to produce a detailed, annotated genome map of the core genes that drive the key biogeochemical reactions on Earth and analyze the structural motifs of the key catalysts to produce a phylogeny of topology, thereby generating an evolutionary blueprint for the electronic circuit of life. This “reverse engineering” approach to microbial metabolism will potentially transform biology as we know it. It will provide the roadmap from genes to function, from function to interactions (both novel and putatively of ancient derivation), and from interactions to feedbacks that lead to genetic selection. Our proposed research takes two parallel, but synergistic approaches (tasks) to elucidate the evolution of core genes and their structure. Both tasks are primarily computational: one uses genome sequence from isolated organisms (i.e., not metagenome data), the second utilizes protein structural motifs. Our research will produce an integrated sequence, phylogenetic and structural database encapsulating our understanding about biochemically catalyzed electron transfer reactions arose and continue to function in key biogeochemical cycles. We envision that this effort would require three years of support and lead to a significantly enhanced and integrated use of the metagenome data archived over the past decade by the GBMF.
|
|
