Anaerobic digestion (AD) systems produce methane-rich biogas, which can be upgraded and distributed within the existing energy grid. Despite the widespread adoption of AD for waste management and bioenergy generation, the microbial networks driving methane production from organic matter remain poorly constrained, limiting our capacity to predict impacts of process perturbations. Here, we will combine stable isotope and amino acid tracers with genomic sequencing to determine “who is doing what” in AD, with the overall aim of improving biofuel production efficiency from renewable biomass. [Read More]

Soils are one of the most valuable resources for our nation, sustaining fiber, food and energy sectors. Soils harbor a diverse set of microbial communities that is three times higher than all other environments combined, but we have yet to develop a framework for microbial community assembly in terrestrial systems at spatial scales that are ecologically-relevant for microbes. Aggregates constitute the physical microstructure of the soil, influencing drainage, nutrient levels, and biogeochemical cycling. We propose to study this system using the soil aggregate as an unit for microbial community processes and functions. [Read More]

Soil microbial communities are among the richest sources of biodiversity on Earth. However, very little is known about the roles of individual microbial populations living in soil and how they affect important processes such as soil fertility and carbon cycling. This proposal investigates free-living Bradyrhizobium, an abundant and widespread soil bacterium, and will provide mechanistic… [Read More]

Collected at the Southern Ocean Time Series, transcriptomes and manipulative experiments will establish virus and microbial processes that constrain the carbon cycle and system biogeochemistry (major DOE mission areas). Interactions on sinking particles, the specificity of virus-host relationships and trace metal effects will be examined. The cumulative data set will allow for the development of… [Read More]

Roots and stomata are plants’ primary entry and exit points for water. Therefore, they are key targets for manipulation to improve bioenergy crop productivity, resilience and sustainability by reducing the risk of crop losses due to inadequate water supply. The number of pores, called stomata, on the leaf surface influences how much water the crop… [Read More]

Freshwater lakes contain diverse and dynamic microbial communities that play key roles in maintaining water quality, cycling nutrients, and regulating carbon uptake and storage. They are important hotspots for biogeochemical cycling in terrestrial landscapes. This project aims to use hundreds of samples collected over time in two very different lakes to understand how these communities… [Read More]

The analysis of gene expression allows scientists to generate hypotheses important for the understanding of gene function. Proteins that participate in similar functions, or form larger protein complexes, are often encoded by genes that share similar expression profiles. This type of analysis has been limited to “steady-state” mRNA levels, that is the combined output of… [Read More]