Harnessing Acquired Phototrophy for the Design of Microbial Systems
Testing the mathematical model’s predictions. A: Members of the Mesodinium genus occupy different regions in model trait space. Within a single lineage, trait values can also be manipulated by altering prey type (e.g., M. chamaeleon’s plastid retention and photosynthetic capacity differ depending upon prey identity, Moeller & Johnson (2018)). B: Competition experiments will combine Mesodinium lineages under fixed environmental (prey and light) conditions. C: The outcome of competition will be measured via population dynamics. D: By measuring competitive outcomes as a function of environmental conditions (here, 16 measurements are represented by x’s, with outcomes colour coded), we can infer the shape of the fitness landscape (gray lines). We will repeat experiments with multiple Mesodinium lineage pairs.
This project builds basic scientific knowledge in the areas of microbial ecology, microbial physiology, and metabolic modeling. By identifying the organismal traits and environmental conditions that favor the maintenance of stolen chloroplasts, this research lays the foundation for design principles for engineered systems that leverage this technology. Because a challenge in the design of microbial systems is coupling desired metabolic functions with energy and fuel sources, the ability to engineer photosynthesis into other organisms is desirable. Beyond capacity for energy generation, this project provides generalizable frameworks for acquired metabolism and modeling tools that can be used to understand the stability and evolutionary trajectories of these systems.
