UMass Amherst Microbiologist Receives Grants to Study Deep-Sea, High-Temperature Microbes
Oct. 24, 2007
| Contact: | James Holden 413/577-1742 |
AMHERST, Mass. – Microbiologist James Holden of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded two grants to study microorganisms from deep-sea volcanic environments that grow best at temperatures around 200 F. The goals of his research are to cultivate and study new species of these hyperthermophilic microorganisms, model their impact on the ecology of volcanic environments and determine whether some of these organisms could be useful for producing biofuels.
Holden is the lead investigator of a three-year, $601,000 grant from the National Science Foundation along with three researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle. The funds will support two oceanographic research expeditions to a deep-sea volcanic study site using the submarine Alvin, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Massachusetts.
The study will examine the distribution and abundances of specific types of hyperthermophiles and the chemistry of the rocks and fluids that they live in. Samples will be collected 120 miles off the coast of Washington state and British Columbia. The site, which is 7,300 feet below the ocean’s surface, can emit fluids at temperatures up to 660 F. The heat-loving microorganisms Holden studies are believed to be representative of life on Earth about three billion years ago; scientists also believe that there are many new species to be discovered in these vents. Scientists know little about the environment in which these animals live, but studying specific chemical signatures in the rock and fluids they live in could provide a framework for the search for extraterrestrial life. Studying their ecology within a deep-sea system could provide insight into the search for life without sunlight on other planets and moons.
“If you have the right combination of water, rock and heat, then you could create a hydrothermal vent,” said Holden. These signatures can then be used to determine whether planets that have a history of volcanoes and the existence of water, such as Mars, could support life.
Holden also received a $28,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Northeast SunTrust to determine whether certain hyperthermophiles can be used for biofuel production. There is tremendous interest in shifting the source of biofuel production away from starch to a more sustainable feedstock, such as cellulose, the most abundant organic compound on the planet and the primary component of material such as wood chips and grasses. Cellulose is difficult to degrade; however, there is evidence that hyperthermophiles have specific enzymes that can degrade cellulose into sugars. The high temperatures in which these animals live may also accelerate the breakdown process, making the process even more efficient. The microorganisms produce hydrogen gas from the sugar breakdown product of cellulose, which along with ethanol is one of the primary biofuels of interest. Holden’s team will test the deep-sea hyperthermophiles for their ability to degrade cellulose and produce hydrogen.
“These life forms are thought to live deep within the Earth’s crust and may be part of a large pool of the Earth’s biomass that exists below the surface in the absence of sunlight,” said Holden. “The subsurface biosphere is a largely untapped natural resource for biotechnology.”
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