REU: Bacterial Transformation as a Mechanism of Gene Transfer in the Marine Environment

直到最近才认识到海洋微生物群落在中上层生态系统中碳和营养物质循环中的重要性。然而，遗传信息在这些群体中的流动在很大程度上仍然是未知的。本研究考察了海洋细菌通过转化过程传递遗传信息的能力——细胞外DNA编码的遗传信息的摄取和表达。有两个具体目标：1)研究外源转化DNA对内源海洋微生物组合的转化；2)确定在各种海洋环境中发生转化的可能性，并将其与陆地细菌的基因转移机制进行比较。这些研究应能更全面地了解海洋环境中的转化过程，并更好地了解基因在海洋微生物群落中的流动。

The importance of marine microbial communities in the cycling of carbon and nutrients in pelagic ecosystems has only recently been realized. However, the flux of genetic information through these same communities remains largely unknown. This research examines the capability of marine bacteria to transfer genetic information by the process of transformation- -the uptake and expression of genetic information encoded in extracellular DNA. There are two specific objectives: 1) to investigate transformation of endogenous marine microbial assemblages by exogenous transforming DNA; and 2) to determine the likelihood of transformation occurring in various marine environments and to compare these with the mechanisms of gene transfer in terrestrial bacteria. These studies should provide a more comprehensive picture of the transformation process in the marine environment, and a better understanding of the flux of genes through marine microbial communities.