This month we talked with Dr. Christine Salomon, Assistant Professor at the Center for Drug Design in the University of Minnesota.  Dr. Salomon’s work intersects chemistry and microbial ecology in the hunt for interesting new natural products with far reaching potential applications.  While much effort has been expended in searching for organisms on the surface of our planet, the deep continental biosphere is relatively unknown. Dr. Salomon is investigating these mysterious microbes half a mile under the surface in the Soudan Underground Mine in northern Minnesota.  A former iron mine, the Soudan Mine is now part of the Minnesota State Park system and an untapped research resource.

Q:  How does the microbial ecology of the Soudan Underground Mine differ from other underground caves? A: While the mine was still in use, the miners drilled a number of exploratory holes looking for additional iron.  Over time water from the surrounding rock has seeped through these holes into the mine forming flows of brinewater that are iron rich, devoid of oxygen until they mix with the mine atmosphere, and high in calcium chloride.  Previous community analysis from samples in the mine suggested the presence of a microbial population that was rich in members of the Actinomyces genus.  These are gram positive bacteria which are well known for producing a number of antibiotics and other interesting natural products.

Q:  What has your lab done to investigate these organisms?

A: Last summer we received funding from the Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund at the recommendation of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) to culture bacteria from  samples collected in the mine and identify new natural products from these strains.  We found a very diverse population of actinomycete bacteria many of which are closely related to marine microbes, which is very interesting to find in northern Minnesota!  We also found  that many of these microbes produce some unique antifungal compounds.

Q:  What are the implications for your work and what are your next steps in the project?

A: The discovery of new antifungal compounds is an active area of research because there are currently few ideal drugs for fungal infections.  We are very interested in identifying these novel natural products and studying them to explore their potential as new therapeutics for human disease.  Additionally we are interested in the chemical ecology between fungi and bacteria in the Soudan mine.  We are collaborating with a fungal microbiologist and will be returning to the mine to sample fungi and identify the potential roles that these compounds play in modulating these interactions in the environment

Q:  How have MO BIO’s products helped you carry out your work?

A: We’ve used the PowerWater kit to isolate DNA from bacteria in our samples which is used to make clone libraries.  We’ve also had great success using the BiOstic Bacteremia kit to isolate DNA from cultures of actinomyces.  The beads in this kit are very effective at disrupting these gram positive bacteria and save  a great deal of time compared to traditional genomic DNA isolation methods.

For more information about Dr. Salomon’s work, please visit her website and  faculty page with her research interests.