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Home * Background * Research Thrusts * Funding and Awards * Future Directions * Links * Contact Information
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Transporter Protein Categories. Biological evolution
is conservative; if a protein worked well on a simpler microbe (inner
circle), it is often copied and adapted in more complex microbes (outer
circles). This is a powerful aid to understanding protein functions.
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Microbial Cell Research Thrusts (continued) Goal: Focus on functions that are relevant to DOE goals (e.g., bioremediation, carbon sequestration, and sustainable energy production). Challenges: DOE has longstanding biological missions focused on genomics; environmental remediation; sustainable energy production via biofuels, carbon sequestration, cycling, and conversion; biotechnology; and other applications. Combining both genomic sequencing information with fundamental insight into the metabolism and biochemistry of the microbial cell offers a unique opportunity to utilize microbes for energy production and renewal. The 50-year legacy of waste from both the military's atomic weapons programs and the civilian nuclear power industry has created a vast challenge for environmental remediation. Exploring biological approaches has acquired even more importance with escalating costs to store and secure these wastes. The first microbes that DOE sequenced were producers of methane; the more recent ones express abilities for carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation, biomass conversion, and toxic chemical degradation. Most recently, DOE supported the sequencing, at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), of Deinococcus radiodurans, a ubiquitous microbe that can withstand more than 1.5million Rads of direct radiation (some 1500 to 2000 times the dose that is lethal for humans). This microbe is being engineered to degrade toluene and reduce toxic mercury, serious problems at several DOE waste sites. As the MCP grows, DOE will sustain its focus on environmental remediation, energy production, biotechnology, and carbon management. published 06/05/00 |
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