Elucidation of anaerobic benzene and alkylated aromatic compound degradation pathways and associated proteins by proteomic and metabolomic analyses

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Jana Seifert
• Subject Area: Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: from 2009 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 72004962

The chemical and biological influences to anaerobic benzene and alkalyed aromatic compound degradation processes and to the involved microorganisms will be studied in this project. The initial mechanism in benzene degradation at sulfate-reducing conditions is still unknown and as preliminary proteomic and metagenomic experiments gave only limited clues an enhanced screening for proteins and specific metabolites will be carried out. During mass spectrometry of protein extracts peptide mass inclusion lists will allow a preferred detection of peptides of interest. A total metabolomic screening of the culture as well as specific CoA-Ester identifications will be done by mass spectrometry. The role of acetate in the community metabolism and the hydrocarbon substrate specificity will be investigated in Protein-SIP experiments. A metabolic labeling of the culture growing on 13C-labeled compounds will allow the detection of metabolic active species as the method elucidates the functional and phylogenic information of the community and validates the metabolites detected. Another focus will be laid on the alkylated aromatic compound degradation under sulfate reducing conditions. As preliminary investigations showed the presence of proteins similar to methylnaphthalene degrading proteins in a m-xylene degrading culture we will study the culture by Protein-SIP experiments and metabolite assessment.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1319: Biological Transformations without Oxygen: From the Molecular to the Global Scale
• Participating Person: Professor Dr. Martin von Bergen