Integrative Graduate
Education and
Research Traineeship

Highlight

IGERT Students Involved in Biofuels Research Cluster

Microbial Community Network Modeling to Enhance Biofuel Production

Projects:

IGERT: Geobiological Systems Science: Providing...

Institution:

Montana State University

Primary Strategic Goal:

Discovery: Foster research that will advance the frontiers of knowledge, emphasizing areas of greatest opportunity and potential benefit and establishing the Nation as a global leader in fundamental transformational science and engineering.

Secondary Strategic Goal:

Learning: Build the Nation's research capability through critical investments in advanced instrumentation, facilities, cyber infrastructure, and experimental tools.

Achievement/Results

A group of MSU IGERT students, faculty and post-doctoral associates have formed a research cluster referred to as the ‘MSU Biofuels’ group, with primary thrusts aimed at algal biofuels, methanogenic co-cultures, bioengineering of E. coli with cyanobacterial co-cultures, fungal technologies, and microbial community modeling. Specific accomplishments by IGERT students from within this group include R. Gardner’s efforts to optimize lipid production by algae, T. Bell’s studies of algal communities in biofuel production systems, K. Hunt’s modeling efforts in biochemical cell networks, and N. Mallette’s work on hydrocarbon-producing fungi. Moreover, the recent IGERT class project (DGED 611-612) is focused on metabolic network analysis of model microbial communities to enhance syntrophic methane and hydrogen production from carbon rich feed-stocks (see Figure). Consequently, MSU IGERT students have been directly involved in the science and engineering of enhanced biofuel production. In part, these activities are an outgrowth of the interdisciplinary nature of the IGERT Program and the fact that research projects are established across disciplinary boundaries to encourage novel solutions (e.g., biology, biochemistry and engineering).

Address Goals

The research foci of this group of IGERT students and faculty are aimed at discovery of new biofuel technologies and include interdisciplinary efforts across the fields of biology, chemistry, biochemistry and biological engineering.