Welcome to the Spormann Lab website!
We are fascinated by the intricacies and diversity of microbial metabolism and study, from a fundamental as well as application-based perspective, core metabolic and physiological features of prokaryotic microorganisms involved in environmental, GHG-mitigation, and intestinal processes. In particular, we research anaerobic microbes that have the unique trait of using CO2 as electron acceptor in their catabolism, and, thus, can convert waste and atmospheric CO2 into useful compounds. Specifically, we focus on:
1) Molecular mechanism of electron flux in CO2 -reducing acetogenic, methanogenic and chain-elongating microbes
2) Microbial platforms for converting CO2 to edible protein as an alternative to animal agriculture
3) Converting CO2 to useful, climate-inert carbon materials by an integrated
microbial and chemical approach
4) Control of allocation of cellular resources under slow growth conditions
In all research areas, we use quantitative biochemical, proteomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic approaches in conjunction with genetic analysis and modeling. Next to providing insights into fundamentals of microbial life, our findings are used to develop innovative approaches to bioenergy and CO2 mitigation, to treat intestinal microbial diseases, as well as develop new concepts of adaptation of microbial life in the marine deep subsurface.
Expertise:
Microbial metabolism and physiology, microbial biochemistry and enzymology, hydrogen and hydrogenases, CO2 reductions and utilizations, bioenergy, GHG mitigation
Contact: spormann@stanford.edu