Hyperaccumulation of gadolinium by Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 reveals impacts of lanthanides on cellular processes beyond methylotrophy

We report a genetic variant of Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 that hyperaccumulates the heavy lanthanide gadolinium. Using RNA-seq transcriptomics we identified wide-spread metabolic and physiological changes in this strain and experimentally validate several of them, including increased gadolinium transport and storage in an intracellular compartment we name the lanthasome. Overall design: RNA-seq transcriptomics of evo-HLn variant compared to the ancestral genetic background, in the presence of lanthanum, gadolinium