Engineering topics

Thomas, Paul M.

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas, Paul M..

4 records

DOE OSTI2022

A mixed-valent Fe(II)Fe(III) species converts cysteine to an oxazolone/thioamide pair in methanobactin biosynthesis

Methanobactins (Mbns), copper-binding peptidic compounds produced by some bacteria, are candidate therapeutics for human diseases of copper overload. The paired oxazolone-thioamide bidentate ligands of methanobactins are generated from cysteine residues in a precursor peptide, MbnA, by the MbnBC enzyme complex. MbnBC activity depends on the presence of iron and oxygen, but the catalytically active form has not been identified. Here, we provide evidence that a dinuclear Fe(II)Fe(III) center in MbnB, which is the only representative of a >13,000-member protein family to be characterized, is responsible for this reaction. These findings expand the known roles of diiron enzymes in biology and set the stage for mechanistic understanding, and ultimately engineering, of the MbnBC biosynthetic complex.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Chemical composition of material extractives influences microbial growth and dynamics on wetted wood materials

The impact of material chemical composition on microbial growth on building materials remains relatively poorly understood. We investigate the influence of the chemical composition of material extractives on microbial growth and community dynamics on 30 different wood species that were naturally inoculated, wetted, and held at high humidity for several weeks. Microbial growth was assessed by visual assessment and molecular sequencing. Unwetted material powders and microbial swab samples were analyzed using reverse phase liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Different wood species demonstrated varying susceptibility to microbial growth after 3 weeks and visible coverage and fungal qPCR concentrations were correlated (R 2 = 0.55). Aspergillaceae was most abundant across all samples; Meruliaceae was more prevalent on 8 materials with the highest visible microbial growth. A larger and more diverse set of compounds was detected from the wood shavings compared to the microbial swabs, indicating a complex and heterogeneous chemical composition within wood types. Several individual compounds putatively identified in wood samples showed statistically significant, near-monotonic associations with microbial growth, including C 11 H 16 O 4 , C 18 H 34 O 4 , and C 6 H 15 NO. A pilot experiment confirmed the inhibitory effects of dosing a sample of wood materials with varying concentrations of liquid C 6 H 15 NO (assuming it presented as Diethylethanolamine).

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2019

A five-level classification system for proteoform identifications

The term proteoform, introduced in these pages in 2013, has rapidly gained acceptance in the proteomics community. The challenge and importance of comprehensively identifying proteoforms in complex samples has been recognized, and reports have begun to appear of new platforms towards that end. However, one interesting central ambiguity has emerged, namely determining precisely what is meant by a “proteoform identification”. At present, the only practical approaches for establishing the exact primary structure of a proteoform employ mass spectrometry (MS), and there is a wide range of MS results that provide “proteoform identifications”. This seemingly small matter has significant impact, as the ambiguity in knowing what is meant by an “identification” makes it difficult to compare results from different laboratories and approaches. This situation hinders the ability of the community to evaluate technological progress and to efficiently expand biological knowledge. To address this issue, we propose a five-level system for classifying proteoform identifications. Here, the classification scheme stems directly from a consideration of the four types of possible ambiguity possible for a proteoform identification, ranging from the most subtle (i.e., precise localization of a post-translational modification, or PTM) to the most dramatic (i.e., ambiguity in the gene of origin). The five classes then correspond to the level of ambiguity present in the identification, ranging from no ambiguity at all (Level 1), to ambiguity of all four types (Level 5). Details of the scheme are provided in Table 1 and Supplementary Table 1, with specific use cases and examples provided in Supplementary Figure 1.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2019

Microbial and metabolic succession on common building materials under high humidity conditions

Despite considerable efforts to characterize the microbial ecology of the built environment, the metabolic mechanisms underpinning microbial colonization and successional dynamics remain unclear, particularly at high moisture conditions. Here, we applied bacterial/viral particle counting, qPCR, amplicon sequencing of the genes encoding 16S and ITS rRNA, and metabolomics to longitudinally characterize the ecological dynamics of four common building materials maintained at high humidity. We varied the natural inoculum provided to each material and wet half of the samples to simulate a potable water leak. Wetted materials had higher growth rates and lower alpha diversity compared to non-wetted materials, and wetting described the majority of the variance in bacterial, fungal, and metabolite structure. Inoculation location was weakly associated with bacterial and fungal beta diversity. Material type influenced bacterial and viral particle abundance and bacterial and metabolic (but not fungal) diversity. Metabolites indicative of microbial activity were identified, and they too differed by material.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗