Mines Professors Head to Yellowstone National Park to Collect Study Samples for Pioneering Nitrogen Research

The brilliant colors of Yellowstone National Park’s hot springs have long attracted visitors for their stunning views; however, the thermophilic organisms creating the rainbow surfaces offer much to researchers and scientists.

Today, many researchers turn to Yellowstone's thermophiles — heat-loving microscopic organisms — searching for a better, more sustainable world.

This fall, Rajesh Sani, Ph.D., and Tanvi Govil, Ph.D., faculty in the Karen M. Swindler Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at South Dakota Mines, will travel to the nation's first national park to collect samples of thermophilic cyanobacteria. Their goal is to isolate unique strains capable of nitrogen fixation at temperatures exceeding 176 degrees Fahrenheit, which surpasses the current known upper limit for photosynthesis of 163 degrees Fahrenheit.

While nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, making up more than 70 percent, it is not directly usable by most living organisms. Biological nitrogen fixation is a process in which nitrogen gas is converted into a usable compound like ammonia. The hope is to find bacteria that can fix nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide more sustainably and faster.

“The unique properties of thermophilic cyanobacteria, which thrive in the extreme conditions of Yellowstone's hot springs, open new doors for biotechnological applications,” Sani said.

The study is part of a $7 million National Science Foundation (NSF) E-RISE RII project led by South Dakota State University that will build research capacity focused on biological nitrogen fixation and its applications in sustainable agriculture and industry. The NSF E-RISE Bio-Nitrogen Research Center (BNRC) at Mines will establish a state-of-the-art metabolomics research facility and develop a focused expertise in thermophilic cyanobacteria. “Our research at BNRC is not just about understanding these remarkable organisms but also about harnessing their capabilities to develop sustainable solutions for industrial bioprocessing,” Sani said.

Sani and Govil said there are vast databases of microbial culture collections, but none have the thermal cyanobacteria that can fix the nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases at higher rates.

“These collections have thousands of millions of bacteria, but none that's thermophilic nitrogen fixation cyanobacteria (TNFC),” said Govil.

Most research has focused on carbon fixation because of carbon dioxide’s role in climate change; however, nitrogen fixation plays a vital role in promoting plant growth and the health of other animals and organisms.

The team, including Roman Shchepin, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry at Mines, will purify the metabolites once the metabolic pathways enabling extremophiles to perform oxic nitrogen fixation are identified by Sani and Govil. After the samples are collected, Sani and Govil will return to the BNRC to create a controlled environment similar to Yellowstone, where Shchepin will focus on isolating and purifying the key metabolites involved.

“By studying these high-temperature loving cyanobacteria, we are breaking new ground in the field of nitrogen fixation,” Govil said. “Our goal is to overcome the traditional barriers of oxygen inhibition in photosynthesis, which could lead to significant advancements in how we produce bio-based products, enhancing efficiency and sustainability in the biomanufacturing sector.”

Shchepin added that the Mines project does not end with isolation and genetic characteristics. “We are also pioneering new methods for the purification of novel metabolites from these thermophilic cyanobacteria.”

Sani, Govil and Shchepin are excited to be on the frontlines of groundbreaking research. “It promises to unlock new metabolites, precursor compounds and metabolic pathways, opening innovative avenues for biotechnologies that could profoundly impact the biomanufacturing industries by utilizing these robust thermophilic cyanobacterial hosts,” Sani said.