Summary
This project aims to elucidate the structure and functions of microbially-derived metallophores and how they modulate microbe-microbe and community interactions within human microbiomes, focusing on metal acquisition and homeostasis.
Microbiota Metallophores: Probing Interactions and Nutrient Dynamics of the Human Gut
US · IL
NIH
grant
awarded
#nih-5R35GM155026-02
What they want
The research will investigate what metallophores are produced by the human microbiota and how they are biosynthesized, their metal preferences and specificities, how these molecules modulate microbial interactions, and the effects of altered microbial interactions. This involves developing discovery-based approaches to find uncharacterized microbial metallophores, pursuing chemical structure elucidation and characterization of biosynthesis, and investigating growth and metal acquisition of wild-type and genetic deletion mutants in monoculture, co-culture, and complex microbial model systems.
Deliverables
- Elucidation of chemical structures and properties of microbially-derived metallophores
- Characterization of metallophore biosynthesis pathways
- Identification of metal preferences and specificities of metallophores
- Understanding of how metallophores modulate microbial interactions
- Data on growth and metal acquisition in various microbial systems (monoculture, co-culture, complex models)
Technical requirements
- Expertise in analytical chemistry for structure elucidation
- Expertise in molecular biology and genetics for biosynthesis characterization and mutant generation
- Ability to work with metagenomics sequencing data
- Capability to investigate growth and metal acquisition in microbial systems (monoculture, co-culture, complex models)
