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Dinitrogen (N2) gas is about 2,000-fold more abundant than CO2 in the atmosphere. However, while humanity has devoted extraordinary efforts to harness CO2 through photosynthesis–built entire civilizations on the process – much less attention has been paid to biological N2 fixation. This is unfortunate, because the four-fold increase in the human population over the past century has depended instead on chemical N2 fixation through the Haber-Bosch process, in which N2 is converted to NH3 at high-temperature and pressure1. Manufacture of NH3 accounts for a significant amount of the world’s emission of greenhouse gas, and the agricultural application of NH3 leads to an even greater amount of emission (mostly the greenhouse gas N2O). Furthermore, the unabsorbed fertilizer causes pollution of aquatic ecosystems through leaching and surface runoff, leading to anoxic dead zones in bodies of water3. There is an alternative. Certain cyanobacteria are capable of fixing N2 – reducing it to NH3 – using sunlight as the source of energy, all under aerobic conditions– an atmosphere of 21% oxygen4. While N2-fixing cyanobacteria have been insufficiently exploited by humans, they have proven to be highly prized by plants. They are unrivaled in the breadth of associations they make with plants, providing their hosts with fixed nitrogen5, thereby eliminating the need for nitrogenous fertilizer. Furthermore, just as ancient plant cells took in cyanobacteria as CO2-fixing organelles (chloroplasts), so have some unicellular plants taken in cyanobacteria as N2-fixing organelles (nitroplasts).
Just as humanity has not taken full advantage of the practical opportunities afforded by N2-fixing cyanobacteria, so have we paid insufficient attention to the knowledge and resources of native communities. South Dakota is the home of seven large tribal communities, sources of knowledge regarding indigenous plants (both agricultural and medicinal) and sustainable agriculture. In this E-RISE project, we will establish a BioNitrogen Economy Research Center (BNERC) to incubate research focused on biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), shepherding its application to agriculture and biomanufacturing. We will focus on increasing the toolbox of BNF by surveying the metabolic capabilities of N2-fixing bacteria in natural ecosystems and analyzing the genetic basis of aerobic N2-fixation. From this understanding we will develop applications to produce high-valued compounds and biomass for environmentally sustainable nitrogenous fertilizers. A longer term goal is to use our understanding of aerobic N2-fixation to design a N2-fixing organelle that can support the fertilizer-free cultivation of crop plants, which may lead a transition from petro-based Nitrogen Economy to BioNitrogen Economy.
BNERCS’s four research thrust areas (Fig.1) are 1) Identification of aerobic N2-fixers in SD natural ecosystems; 2) Machine learning-driven comparative multi-omics study of aerobic N2-fixation; 3) BNF-driven biomanufacturing; 4) Grafting of BNF (genomic grafting and plant physical grafting).
We will do this by combining the resources of four academic institutions:
South Dakota State University (SDSU): Strength in the molecular genetics of aerobic N2-fixation, genetic engineering, and analytical techniques.
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SD Mines): Strength in extremophilic bioprocessing, molecular biology, start-up companies, bioprocessing of Agri materials.
University of South Dakota (USD): Strength in bioinformatics, proteomic analysis, computational biology, machine learning.
Oglala Lakota College (OLC): Strength in indigenous plants, ecosystem health, sustainable agriculture. Extensive connections to tribal communities.
Houdek: Strength in industrial production of plant-based proteins (30,000 ton/year), bringing basic research to commercialization, links to domestic and international commerce, and global market reach.
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