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

这个合作的微生物观测站项目专注于地球上最大的微生物生态系统之一：海洋表层。海洋表层的微生物在碳从大气到深海的运输中发挥着不可或缺的作用。这种“生物碳泵”具有全球性的生物地球化学意义。百慕大大西洋时间序列研究站点(BATS)是一个副热带环流，以冬季水柱混合事件、春季浮游植物水华和高度分层的夏季极端表层营养不良为特征。BATS一直是开发先进的分子技术来测量微生物多样性的试验台，也是地球上对海洋变量进行最长时间序列研究的地点。该项目的总体目标是通过应用细胞培养和环境基因组学相结合的新技术，并通过加强对这些物种的长期监测技术，了解七个主要的未培养浮游细菌组--SAR11、SAR86、SAR202和SAR116、海洋放线杆菌、SAR324和SAR406的细胞生物学和生物地球化学活性。该计划将支持从俄勒冈州立大学(该奖项)向百慕大生物研究站(克雷格·A·卡尔森博士，奖项9977918)转让用于监测微生物多样性的测试技术，并促进新技术的开发，目标是确定浮游细菌生物学。这项工作的首要目标将是通过采用新的高通量检测和遗传筛选方法首次在培养中培养这些微生物，这些方法是为探索大量中间变量和检测生物之间的正负生物相互作用而设计的。通过将大插入基因组DNA文库的研究与染色体绘制程序联系起来，正在探索关于这些物种的基因组学和群体遗传学的基本问题。这种方法旨在建立在生物地球化学过程中起关键作用的基因之间的细胞连锁群，并为细胞的检测和计数提供新的原位杂交策略。这些数据将帮助我们理解元素循环和能量流动是如何通过进化过程在物种之间分配的。这项工作将在BATS网站正在进行的生物地球化学研究的背景下进行，并将与一年一度的暑期课程、本科生研究体验计划以及由百慕大生物研究站支持的活跃的万维网活动相联系。

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 (this award) to the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (Dr. Craig A. Carlson, Award 9977918), 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.