Collaborative Research on Bacterioplankton Biology and Biogeochemistry at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Station: An Oceanic Microbial Observatory

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This collaborative Microbial Observatory project focuses on one of the largest microbial ecosystems on the planet: the ocean surface layer. Microorganisms in the ocean surface layer play an integral role in carbon transport from the atmosphere to the deep ocean. This "biological carbon pump" has global biogeochemical significance. The Bermuda Atlantic Time series study Site (BATS) is a subtropical gyre characterized by winter water column mixing events, spring phytoplankton blooms, and highly stratified summer periods of extreme surface oligotrophy. BATS has been a testbed for the development of advanced molecular techniques for measuring microbial diversity, and is the site of the longest time-series study of oceanographic variables on the planet. The overall goal of this project is to understand the cell biology and biogeochemical activity of seven major uncultured bacterioplankton groups -SAR11, SAR86, SAR202 and SAR116, marine actinobacteria, SAR324, and SAR406, by applying new technologies that integrate cell culture and environmental genomics, and by enhancing technologies for the long term monitoring of these species. This program will support the transfer of tested technologies for monitoring microbial diversity from Oregon State University (Dr. Stephen Giovannoni, Award 9977930) to the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (this award), and promote the development of new technologies with the goal of defining bacterioplankton biology. The foremost objective of this effort will be to grow these microorganisms in culture for the first time by employing novel high-throughput detection and genetic screening approaches that were designed for exploring a large number of medium variables and for detecting positive and negative biological interactions among organisms. Fundamental questions about the genomics and population genetics of these species are being explored by linking studies of large-insert genomic DNA libraries with chromosomal painting procedures. This approach is designed to establish cellular linkage groups among genes that play key roles in biogeochemical processes, and to provide new in situ hybridization strategies for detecting and counting cells. These data will help us understand how elemental cycling and energy flux have been partitioned among species by evolutionary processes. The work will be conducted in the context of ongoing biogeochemical studies at the BATS site, and will be linked to an annual summer course, Research Experience for Undergraduates program, and active World Wide Web activities supported by the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.