U.S.-Japan Collaborative Project on Microbial Evolution

该奖项将支持密歇根州立大学微生物生态中心的学生和教职员工对日本的一系列短期和长期访问。这些访问将在该中心与日本研究开发公司(JRDC)签订的为期五年的协议的主持下进行。该联合研究项目由密歇根大学密歇根州立大学微生物生态中心主任James Tiedje教授和长冈工业大学的Keiji Yano教授领导。在日本，这项研究将在长冈工业大学和东京地区的物理和化学研究所(RIKEN)进行。微生物生态中心致力于了解微生物的基本原理和微生物在自然和管理生境中的功能。研究项目将包括识别具有一定能力降解污染物的微生物，检查赋予它们这种能力的遗传化学，以及确定可能正在发生哪些进化变化以使它们更有效。研究结果应该会揭示有关微生物物种之间自然基因转移的新信息。虽然研究的重点是基础知识，但预计它也将在环境保护领域产生实际效益，如有毒废物的微生物降解、地下水质量、植物生产力以及农业和环境生物技术的监管。美国人是公认的微生物生态学的领导者，而日本人的专长在于与生物降解有关的基因的分子生物学领域。预计这项研究和交流将为参与该项目的每一名研究人员提供智力和文化拓展的经验。

This award will support a series of short and long-term visits to Japan by students and faculty located at the Center for Microbial Ecology at Michigan State University. These visits will be under the auspices of a five-year agreement that the Center has with the Japan Research and Development Corporation (JRDC). The joint research project is headed by Professor James Tiedje, Director of the MSU Center for Microbial Ecology at the University of Michigan and Professor Keiji Yano at the Nagaoka University of Technology. In Japan the research will be preformed at Nagaoka University of Technology and at the Institute for Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) in the Tokyo area. The Center for Microbial Ecology is dedicated to understanding the underlying principles of microbial and function of microorganisms in natural and managed habitats. Research projects will include identifying microbes that have some ability to degrade pollutants, examining the genetic chemistry that gives them that ability and determining what evolutionary changes may be taking place to make them more effective. Research results should reveal new information about natural gene transfer among microbial species. Although the focus of the research is on basic knowledge, it is also expected to produce practical benefits in areas of environmental protection such as the microbial degradation of toxic wastes, groundwater quality, plant productivity and the regulation of agricultural and environmental biotechnologies. Americans are generally acknowledged leaders in microbial ecology whereas the Japanese's expertise lies in the area of molecular biology of genes involved in biodegradation. It is expected that this research, and the exchanges, will provide intellectually and culturally broadening experiences for every researcher taking part in the program.