Lanthanides metals, long appreciated for their essential roles in technology, have recently been identified as critical elements for biology. Like other life metals, they are found in poorly soluble sources in nature, yet are widely used as cofactors for alcohol dehydrogenases involved in methylotrophy and one-carbon metabolism. My laboratory is studying how methylotrophs can sense, transport, use, and store lanthanides. We have identified a novel lanthanide chelator that we named methylolanthanin that is secreted to sequester lanthanides by the methylotroph Methylobacterium extorquens AM1. In addition, we have identified a lanthanide transport system, novel trafficking enzymes and new classes of enzymes that use lanthanides. My laboratory has also expanded the role of lanthanides to multi-carbon metabolism with substrates such as sugars and aromatic acids in organisms other than M. extorquens AM1, and we are currently identifying the metabolic involvement of these metals in diverse pathways. In addition, we are identifying how lanthanide biochemistry affects microbe-microbe and microbe-plant interactions. Finally, we have developed bacterial chassis for efficient lanthanide biomining to further the energy and agricultural industries.