SEED: Secure Ecosystem Engineering and Design

Science Focus Area: Oak Ridge National Laboratory

  • Principal Investigator and Laboratory Research Manager: Paul E. Abraham1
  • Scientific Co-Managers: Melissa Cregger1 and Joshua Michener1
  • Co-Investigators: Parastoo Azadi2, Carrie Eckert1, Daniel Jacobson1, Ilenne Del Valle Kessra1, Jared LeBoldus3, Tomás Rush1, Joanna Tannous1, Breeanna Urbanowicz2, Xiaohan Yang1
  • Participating Institutions: 1Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2University of Georgia, 3Oregon State University
  • Project Website: https://seed-sfa.ornl.gov

Summary

Diagram of a triangle with Secure Ecosystem Engineering and Design on top. Lower levels are developing effective ecosystem engineering, understanding risk of ecosystem engineering, and developing biocontainment strategies

Ecosystem Engineering. The Secure Ecosystem Engineering and Design (SEED) Science Focus Area (SFA) is building on fundamental advances in genome engineering, high-throughput genotype-to-phenotype discovery, and biodesign. Researchers apply these new capabilities to manipulate the establishment, spread, and impact of microbial invasions. Ultimately, these scientific and technical advancements will lead to the SFA’s decadal vision to develop effective ecosystem engineering strategies while understanding and mitigating associated risks. [Courtesy ORNL]

Precise manipulation of natural or managed ecosystems can improve ecosystem resilience and productivity with benefits for biosecurity and the bioeconomy. Successful, targeted ecosystem alterations are increasingly feasible through the deliberate introduction of nonnative or genetically modified plants and microbes. However, researchers currently lack the knowledge necessary to successfully predict and introduce beneficial alterations, prevent undesired modifications, or assess the risks of proposed ecosystem biodesign efforts. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a long history of research into the biochemistry, genetics, and ecology of plant-microbe interactions. Resulting accomplishments include the establishment of common gardens in multiple environments, a diverse culture collection of bacteria and fungi, the development of genetic and computational tools needed to understand plant-microbe interactions, and more than a decade of research defining the basis for these interactions. Bringing together a team encompassing diverse disciplines, the Secure Ecosystem Engineering and Design (SEED) Science Focus Area (SFA) draws on these unique resources and expertise to define new approaches for the analysis and manipulation of complex biological systems. The SFA’s long-term objective is to develop a predictive understanding of how microorganisms establish, spread, and influence ecosystems critical to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) missions. SEED will build on this knowledge to advance biosystems design for ecosystem engineering while providing the baseline knowledge needed for risk assessment and decision-making across biodefense enterprises. The current 3-year project will develop novel biodesign strategies and tools in nonmodel microbes and plants to detect, control, analyze, and predict microbial invasions for managed perennial forest plantations.