Survey of Prokaryotic Marine Plankton

尽管原核生物无处不在， 从生物学上讲，海洋生物群落的多样性几乎 未知 一个主要的障碍是所需的可培养性差， 标准识别。 该项目将调查 在几个海洋位置的浮游原核生物， 目的通过16 S rRNA基因序列对它们进行分类 直接从生物质中获得。这种方法提供了一种 非常广泛的系统发育分类框架， 唯一一个可以不用培养 有机体 结果是以序列的形式， 通过系统发育分析。 此前，校长 研究人员和其他人已经将这种方法应用于一些开放的 海洋样本和主要的新分类群已经被发现 (e.g.一个古细菌群，其最近的已知亲戚是 就像动物和植物在进化上的距离一样远）。 是 可能其他新的主要类群，以及其他成员， 更好的特征，正在等待发现。 的 拟议的项目将把这些研究扩展到深海、沿海 极地和珊瑚礁栖息地， 这样检查。 首席研究员已经 收集了大部分样本，资金将用于工作- 向上和分析。 其结果可用于对 生态学、地理学和遗传学中的假说，但主要是 将作为今后此类研究的框架。

Although prokaryotes are ubiquitous and immensely important biologically, the diversity of marine communities is almost unknown. A major obstacle is poor culturability required for standard identification. This proposed project will survey planktonic prokaryotes in several ocean locations, with the objective of classifying them by means of 16S rRNA gene sequences obtained direct from biomass. This approach has provided an extremely broad phylogenetic framework of classification, and is the only one that can now be used without culturing the organisms. The results are in the form of sequences, interpreted via phylogenetic analysis. Previously, the Principal Investigator and others have applied this approach to a few open ocean samples, and major new taxa have already been discovered (e.g. an archaebacterial group whose nearest known relatives are as evolutionarily distant as animals are from plants). It is likely that other novel major taxa, as well as additional members of better-characterized ones, are awaiting discovery. The proposed project will extend these studies to deep sea, coastal, polar, and coral reef habitats that have not previously been examined this way. The Principal Investigator has already collected most of the samples, and funds will be used for work- up and analysis. The results can be used in preliminary tests of hypotheses in ecology, biogeography, and phylogeny, but primarily will serve as a framework for future such studies.