Betül Kaçar, associate professor of bacteriology, likes mysteries. And there is, maybe, no larger mystery than the origins and early evolution of life.
Now, a team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison led by Kaçar, a pioneer in the field of molecular paleobiology, will explore the paleoenvironments and ancient history of Earth by bridging paleontology, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and evolution.
The project, “Past as Prelude: Preparing for an Uncertain Future Shaped by Nitrogen,” has received a $1.3 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation, and UW–Madison will contribute matching funds.
Kaçar’s UW–Madison team — which includes Brian Pfleger, professor of chemical and biological engineering, and Jean-Michel Ané, professor of plant and agroecosystem sciences and affiliate with the Department of Bacteriology — seeks to, for the first time, experimentally access more than three billion years of molecular diversity to understand how an enzyme known as nitrogenase has persisted through upheavals in atmospheric chemistry and surface temperatures over Earth’s history. The team will collaborate with Martin Steinegger, professor at Seoul National University, who will provide expertise in large-scale sequence data analysis and method development.
Though nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, only nitrogenase can “fix” nitrogen to a biologically usable form. This enzyme has arisen only in bacteria. Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria are associated with legume plants such as soybeans and peanuts. There has always been consideration of whether other crops could be engineered to fix nitrogen in order to reduce the amount of fertilizer inputs and enhance sustainability of agricultural systems.
Though nitrogen is abundant in the atmosphere, only nitrogenase can “fix” nitrogen to a biologically usable form. This enzyme has arisen only in bacteria associated with legume plants such as soybeans and peanuts.
“Traditional approaches for reconstructing the history of life depend on the study of geological remains that offer a woefully incomplete picture of ancient life due to their rarity and degree of degradation,” Kaçar explains. “The unique window through which we will explore this history is nitrogenase. Certain critical enzymes, such as nitrogenase, evolved early in the history of life and persisted through these dynamic changes to our planet. It is difficult to overstate their importance.”