葉切りアリが植物を分解する真菌園を開拓し、将来のバイオ燃料のヒントを得る(How Leafcutter Ants Cultivate a Fungal Garden to Degrade Plants and Provide Insights into Future Biofuels)

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2024-02-01 パシフィック・ノースウェスト国立研究所(PNNL)

PNNLの研究者チームは、植物材料を分解し生物製品に変換する方法を研究。リグニンなどの難分解ポリマーに注目。特殊な微生物コミュニティ(菌、蟻、細菌)が植物を自然に分解し、新たなイメージング手法(MIPI)を使用して、分子レベルで生態系を観察。酵素や代謝物質の特定から、微生物の役割まで解明し、将来のバイオ製品開発に応用可能。Nature Chemical Biology誌に発表。

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微生物コンソーシアムによるリグノセルロース分解の微小生息地のマッピング Mapping microhabitats of lignocellulose decomposition by a microbial consortium

Marija Veličković,Ruonan Wu,Yuqian Gao,Margaret W. Thairu,Dušan Veličković,Nathalie Munoz,Chaevien S. Clendinen,Aivett Bilbao,Rosalie K. Chu,Priscila M. Lalli,Kevin Zemaitis,Carrie D. Nicora,Jennifer E. Kyle,Daniel Orton,Sarai Williams,Ying Zhu,Rui Zhao,Matthew E. Monroe,Ronald J. Moore,Bobbie-Jo M. Webb-Robertson,Lisa M. Bramer,Cameron R. Currie,Paul D. Piehowski & Kristin E. Burnum-Johnson
Nature Chemical Biology  Published:DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01536-7

Abstract

The leaf-cutter ant fungal garden ecosystem is a naturally evolved model system for efficient plant biomass degradation. Degradation processes mediated by the symbiotic fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus are difficult to characterize due to dynamic metabolisms and spatial complexity of the system. Herein, we performed microscale imaging across 12-µm-thick adjacent sections of Atta cephalotes fungal gardens and applied a metabolome-informed proteome imaging approach to map lignin degradation. This approach combines two spatial multiomics mass spectrometry modalities that enabled us to visualize colocalized metabolites and proteins across and through the fungal garden. Spatially profiled metabolites revealed an accumulation of lignin-related products, outlining morphologically unique lignin microhabitats. Metaproteomic analyses of these microhabitats revealed carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, indicating a prominent fungal role in lignocellulose decomposition. Integration of metabolome-informed proteome imaging data provides a comprehensive view of underlying biological pathways to inform our understanding of metabolic fungal pathways in plant matter degradation within the micrometer-scale environment.

葉切りアリが植物を分解する真菌園を開拓し、将来のバイオ燃料のヒントを得る(How Leafcutter Ants Cultivate a Fungal Garden to Degrade Plants and Provide Insights into Future Biofuels)

生物工学一般
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