Environmental Microbiology and Biogeochemistry
Contact: Dr. Allan Konopka
At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, studies of difficult-to-cultivate microorganisms and microbial communities result in new approaches to bioremediation and renewable energy development. Enlarge Image
Our microbial world. Microbes are diverse, both genetically and in terms of their metabolism. They have evolved for 4 billion years and have spread to virtually every environment and corner of the planet.
Microorganisms rarely live in monoculture, but function as integrated units, or communities, that process nutrient and energy resources and impact their environment. Communities usually comprise many hundred different microbial taxa. Specific chemical and/or physical interactions among them define how the community functions (e.g., how nutrients and energy are processed), and what impact the community has on the environment.
The promise of microbial communities. Communities of microbes provide essential services in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems via the primary production of organic matter, recycling of nutrients, sequestration of carbon, purification of water, and detoxification of xenobiotic chemicals. Cultivated microbes produce pharmaceuticals such as antibiotics, food and beverages, and biofuels.
Microbial communities can thrive in extremes of temperature, pressure, salinity, and ionizing radiation. Surviving those extremes required microorganisms to evolve to meet specific environmental challenges. The resulting enzymes and pathways in known and as-yet-undiscovered organisms could provide revolutionary answers to today's problems.
PNNL scientists are investigating the genetics, biochemistry, physiology and ecology of individual microbes and microbial communities. These studies aim to determine the impact microbes have upon each other and upon biogeochemical processes, particularly those related to the fate and transport of contaminants and to energy production.
Our work encompasses the following science areas:
We also began a Lab-level initiative in October 2009 called the Microbial Communities Initiative. The focus of the Initiative is on understanding microbial community interactions at the fundamental scale at which they occur—at the microscale (<100 microns).
A systems science approach. We make extensive use of advanced experimental technologies from molecular biology, imaging, and spectroscopy to take a systems approach to understand complex biological phenomena at a mechanistic level. They use bioinformatics and other data-mining techniques, as well as the development of simulation models to analyze the complex datasets generated from genomic and proteomic studies. Long-term goals are a predictive understanding of system behavior and the rational redesign and development of new bioprocesses and bio-inspired solutions.
Thus, the research activities of our scientists cut across the disciplines found at PNNL and include microbiology, molecular biology, proteomics, analytical chemistry, biophysics, and information sciences. Research sponsors include the Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, and internally funded projects.