This thesis explores the ability of M. maripaludis to capture and convert CO2 to methane in the presence of free nitrogen, and offers a consolidated review of the metabolic processes and applications of M. maripaludis. Further, it develops, validates and analyzes the first genome-scale metabolic model (iMM518) of M. maripaludis. Readers will discover, for the first time, the impact of nitrogen fixation on methane production. As such, the thesis will be of interest to researchers working on M. maripaludis, biofuels and bioenergy, systems biology modeling and its experimental validation, estimation of maintenance energy parameters, nitrogen fixing microbes, and bioremediation.

Autorentext
Dr. Nishu Goyal is working as a Research Engineer at Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), National University of Singapore (NUS). She began her PhD in July 2011, after securing a M.Tech (Biochemical Engineering) from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India and gaining some valuable work experience in Strand Life Sciences Pte Ltd, a leading bioinformatics company in Bangalore, India. She has a very strong biochemistry background and thorough understanding of cellular metabolisms. She also has extensive experience in genomics data analysis and optimization of complex biological networks. For her graduate studies at NUS, she was awarded the highly prestigious President Graduate Fellowship. She authored and co-authored many peer-reviewed articles and journals and presented her work in several national and international conferences. She actively participates in departmental events: organizing conferences, invited talks, technical sessions, university festivals, etc. and was also elected as the Vice President of Graduate Student Association, NUS.

Inhalt
Introduction.- Literature Review.- A Genome-scale Metabolic Model of M. maripaludis S2 for CO2 Capture and Conversion to Methane.- Flux Measurements and Maintenance Energy for CO2 Utilization by M. maripaludis.- Diazotrophy Enhances CO2 to Methane Conversion in M.maripaludis.- Contributions and Future Recommendations.