The Headwaters of a Cosmic Journey

Around Campus Editor

   The headwaters of the majestic Mississippi, the beginning of the river’s 2,340-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico, contain microorganisms of unique interest to the scientific community. These organisms may one day help begin an even longer journey—mankind’s cosmic journey beyond the Earth. 

   Around 900 samples of these microorganisms, algae of the class Eustigmatophyceae, reside in the office of Marvin Fawley, associate professor of biology, and Karen Fawley, assistant professor of biology, in the Turner Neal Museum of Natural History on the University of Arkansas-Monticello campus. The Fawleys collected the algae and stored the samples in vials to research their growth. Their research studies the diversity and taxonomy of algae species, focusing on DNA sequence analysis to discover an entire trove of previously unknown species.

   “We tend to go to some location and isolate a bunch of algae and study them,” Marvin said. Their research began in 2000 after receiving funding from the National Science Foundation as part of a Microbial Observatory program. Most of the research conducted in Itasca State Park in Minnesota still yields results today.

   Some of their research also receives funds from NASA and the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium. This funding focuses on the research into the Eustig class of micro algae. When the Fawleys began their research, scientists only knew of seven genera and about 15 species. The Fawleys and associates have discovered almost three dozen more species and helped to better understand the taxonomy of the class.

   “We were surprised that we found this many from Itasca. We probably have the most Eustig cultures, as far as diversity goes, sitting here in the museum at UAM than any other place in the world,” Karen said.

   In an article submitted to the Arkansas Academy of Science in 2009, the Fawleys stated:

Phylogenetic analyses of these sequences strongly supported Eustigmatophyceae as a monophyletic group and indicated two distinct lineages among our isolates within Eustigmatophyceae. Our results suggest that many of these isolates represent new genera and species. We can also infer the existence of at least two orders in the Eustigmatophyceae, based on the presence of two distinct lineages in the class. In addition to the taxonomic implications, this study will aid in the selection of isolates for further characterization of fatty acids and hydrocarbons, or as part of a regenerative life support system during extended space missions.

Students Involved in Research

   The Fawleys have UAM students help them in the research. Sara Prior helped previously, and junior Nathan Probst currently assists with the research. Probst recently collected water samples from Weevil Pond, and continues to study the algae in those samples.

   “One of the nice things about getting an Arkansas Space grant is that the student gets a stipend and gets all this research experience and gets to go to meetings and talk. He also got to go to Florida and go to NASA and meet some scientists there,” Karen said. Probst traveled to Florida in 2010 and Prior went the previous year.

   The Fawley’s research has received funds of about $20,000 over the past two years. Most of this amount goes toward student stipends so students can help with the research. The Arkansas Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network also provided funding for some equipment. 

   “We send the sequencing to Fayetteville and it’s not very expensive to do. We’ve had a lot of undergraduates work in our lab. The kind of techniques that we use are really easy to teach students, and it’s a great way for them to get experience in the lab,” Karen said.

   Karen and Probst will present their recent findings at the ninety-fifth annual meeting of the Arkansas Academy of Science April 8-9 on the UAM campus. 

The Details in the Fatty Acids

   “The reason that we’re working on these for the Space Grant Consortium is that this whole group of organisms is known to produce a lot of omega fatty acids, and actually a good balance of omega fatty acids, which are of nutritional importance,” Martin said. “Some of these have been proposed as potentially using them for nutritional supplements. And they would also be good to use for extended space missions to produce omega fatty acids for astronauts. They’re pretty good because they tolerate a whole range of temperatures very well.”

   Though using Eustig for keeping astronauts healthy during interstellar travel and moon-based civilization may be years or decades away, Karen says scientists continue to look for other uses as well.

   “There’s a lot of research being done at NASA in biology to try to figure out a way to break down waste in space more naturally than what’s being done now, which is just to bring a lot of chemicals up into space and then just throw everything out into space. So if microorganisms were brought in to break down waste, these Eustigmataphytes would be good nutritional supplements for feeding those organisms that break down the waste,” Karen said.

   Martin also explained interest in more down-to-Earth matters Eustig would be useful for.

   “There’s interest in them because they produce such a quantity of lipid they are being explored for being used in biofuel production,” Martin said. Lipids, organic compounds insoluble in water but soluble in organic compounds, could be produced by Eustig feedstock. The resulting lipids could then be used to create biofuels. The Fawleys have sent several samples to other universities and labs for further research into biofuel production.

   Thanks to the work done by the Fawleys, researchers have a clearer understanding about the locations and diversity of these organisms. One fellow researcher happens to work at UAM. Andrew Williams, assistant professor of chemistry, uses research done by the Fawleys to look at the fatty acid composition of the organisms. Williams’s research, also funded by the ASGC, may one day present NASA with more information about which organisms would be best suited for their goals.

   The Fawleys contribute and converse with other researchers around the globe, and input from scientists in the Czech Republic will help the Fawleys with their next endeavor.

   “We’re all working together, and based on what we’ve found so far, as far as the diversity goes, we’re going to start looking at the whole taxonomic scheme of the class and completely revise it,” Karen said.

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