The zone of groundwater-surface water mixing, known as the Subsurface Interaction Zone (SIZ), is a critical and ubiquitous domain at the groundwater-surface water interface that strongly influences carbon and nitrogen cycling and regulates contaminant releases to surface waters. Researchers want to understand how groundwater-surface water mixing dynamics impact microbial communities. For this project, the work… [Read More]

Methanogens—anaerobic microbes that perform the final step of biomass degradation in the carbon cycle—convert carbon dioxide or monoxide, acetate, methanol, methyl-sulfides and methylamines into methane as part of their core metabolic system. They represent an integral piece of the global carbon cycle as an estimated 350 million tons of methane are produced yearly by methanogens…. [Read More]

Methane hydrates are pockets of methane trapped inside a solid structure of water and are often found in ocean floor sediments. Marine continental margin sediments that bear these methane hydrates are estimated to contain up to 2,000 billion metric tons of methane. Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea and sulfate-reducing bacteria (ANME-SRB consortia) account for the oxidation of… [Read More]

Permafrost is a key globally important ecosystem, storing massive amounts of carbon across a large area. Permafrost-associated soils cover nearly a quarter of the terrestrial land surface, contain more than a third of the world’s soil carbon, and are thawing due to climate change. The fate of the stored carbon is a key unknown in… [Read More]

Ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) are emerging as a model system for understanding microbial community dynamics and the linkages between microbial communities and ecosystem function. EMF provide their plant hosts with nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and water, in exchange for fixed carbon. Trade between the two partners constitutes a significant ecosystem flux in resources between plant… [Read More]

Aspergillus niger is used in industry for the production of enzymes for biomass degradation and other applications. It is also a useful host for expressing glycoside hydrolase (GH) genes from bacteria that have valuable properties. However, researchers do not fully understand the factors that provide high titer production of heterologous enzymes in fungal hosts. The… [Read More]

Growing crops as bioenergy feedstocks requires researchers to focus on soil management and better understand the soil carbon cycle. However, the data on soil microbiology is still limited, preventing researchers from incorporating this information into biogeochemical models. To this end, the project focuses on the microbial interactions in agricultural soils, with the goal of identifying… [Read More]