Mary E. Lidstrom
Frank Jungers Professor of Chemical Engineering
and Professor of Microbiology
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor
Vice Provost for Research (half-time)
Contact Information
| G80 Gerberding Box 352180 Seattle, WA 98195-1750 |
Phone: 206-616-0804 Fax: 206-616-5282 E-mail: lidstrom@u.washington.edu |
Education
B.S., Oregon State University, 1973.
M.S., University of Wisconsin, 1975.
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1977.
For more information, please see the Lidstrom Group Home Page.
Research Interests
- Genomic and metabolic manipulations of methylotrophic bacteria. Genomic, physiological and metabolic modeling approaches are used to understand metabolic networks in these bacteria, with the goal of directed manipulation of key metabolic pathways and enzymes for environmentally benign chemical production from methanol.
- Physiological heterogeneity of individual cells of M. extorquens AM1 to understand how the behavior of individual cells directs population outcomes during response to stress.
Biomolecular Engineering, Metabolic Engineering
Bacteria as a group possess an almost unlimited and largely untapped catalytic resource for the chemical industry. Not only can bacteria carry out a complex array of stereospecific transformations, these can normally be accomplished in a way that eliminates production of toxic waste products. The ability to apply modern molecular techniques to a broad group of metabolically diverse bacteria, coupled to the current revolution in genomic sequence availability in biology has provided a new opportunity to exploit the metabolic potential of this large group of organisms. This research program is focused on molecular and metabolic manipulations of a specific group of bacteria, the methylotrophs, with the goal of developing environmentally sound and economically viable alternatives to current chemical production.
Methylotrophs are bacteria that grow on methane or methanol. They contain unique metabolic pathways that allow them to grow on these simple substrates, and they contain a series of versatile oxidative enzymes involved in methylotrophic metabolism. Sophisticated genetic techniques have been developed for studying and manipulating these enzymes and metabolic pathways, and genomic sequences are becoming available for key strains. Therefore, this group of bacteria represent an excellent system for developing biologically based chemical production strategies.
The research being carried out in this program focuses on understanding and manipulating methylotrophic metabolism for the development of process strains to convert methanol into value added chemicals. Genomic approaches are being used for reconstruction of the metabolic pathways in the cells, the development of predictive metabolic models to direct experimental approaches, and metabolic engineering to redirect flow and control points for overproduction of key metabolites. A central problem is the handling of formaldehyde, a toxic intermediate in methylotrophic metabolism, and variety of modeling, biochemical, and genetic approaches are being used to develop a molecular level understanding of these systems. In addition, expression array and proteomics approaches are being used to address genome-wide control issues.
Selected Recent Publications
Lidstrom, M.E. Meldrum, D.R., "Life-on-a-Chip", Nature Reviews Microbiology, 1, 158-164 (2003).
Marx, C.J., S. Van Dien, and M.E. Lidstrom, "Flux analysis uncovers key role of functional redundancy in formaldehyde metabolism", PloS Biology 3(2): 244-253 (2005).
Chistoserdova L, Jenkins C, Kalyuzhnaya M, Marx CJ, Lapidus A, Vorholt JA, Staley JT, Lidstrom ME, "The Enigmatic Planctomycetes May Hold a Key to the Origins of Methanogenesis and Methylotrophy", Mol Biol Evol. 21:1234-41 (2004).
Korotkova N, Lidstrom ME, "MeaB is a component of the methylmalonyl-CoA mutase complex required for protection of the enzyme from inactivation", .J Biol Chem., Epub ahead of print
Chistoserdova, L., J. Vorholt, R.K. Thauer, and M.E. Lidstrom, "Enzymes and coenzymes thought to be archaeal-specific that are required for aerobic methylotrophy," Science, 281:99-102 (1998).
Recent M.S. Theses
Recent Ph.D. Dissertations
