Microbial Communities: Advantages of Multicellular Cooperation; May 3 - 5, 2002, Tucson, Arizona

微生物群落：多细胞合作的优势；

• 批准号: 0108284
• 负责人: Everett Greenberg
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: American Society For Microbiology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-05-01 至 2003-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0108284&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Microbial; Communities; Advantages; Multicellular; Cooperation

Microbial communities- complex, self-assembling entities composed of various types of microorganisms- profoundly affect human society in many ways. Examples include those that promote plant growth, those that are responsible for ruminant digestion, and those that carry out the controlled degradative processes used to treat sewage and break down environmental pollutants. Most microbial processes upon which the well-being of the biosphere depends are carried out by well-integrated microbial communities with a high level of structural sophistication and developmental control. While a microbial community may resemble a multicellular organism because it has a primitive circulatory system and a degree of cellular specialization, it differs from these life forms in significant ways. The community is not assembled from a single genome, as is a plant or animal, but from a large number of genomes that are programmed to cooperate in community formation. These ubiquitous communities are not killed by starvation or limited by reproductive necessities, so perhaps it should not be surprising that they are among the most successful inhabitants of all ecosystems on earth, including the most hostile and extreme.If scientists are to understand microbial communities sufficiently to control their development or to manipulate them for the benefit of society, they must understand their "embryology" and their "physiology." A colloquium entitled "Microbial Communities: Advantages of Multicellular Cooperation" will convene May 3-5, 2002, in Tucson, Arizona, to generate a consensus on the state of the field and to develop recommendations for its advancement. The colloquium will bring together experts in microbiology, bioinformatics, signaling, and ecology. Following the colloquium, a report will be prepared-in both print and electronic formats-that will be analytical and comprehensive, and will offer practical recommendations for the future.

微生物群落--由各种类型的微生物组成的复杂的自组装实体--在许多方面深刻地影响着人类社会。例子包括促进植物生长的那些，负责反胃动物消化的那些，以及那些执行用于处理污水和分解环境污染物的受控降解过程的那些。生物圈的福祉所依赖的大多数微生物过程是由整合良好的微生物群落进行的，具有高度的结构复杂性和发育控制。虽然微生物群落可能类似于多细胞有机体，因为它具有原始的循环系统和一定程度的细胞专门化，但它在显著方面与这些生命形式不同。群落不像植物或动物那样是由单个基因组组成的，而是由大量的基因组组成的，这些基因组被编程为在群落形成过程中相互协作。这些无处不在的群落不会被饥饿杀死，也不会受到生殖需求的限制，所以它们是地球上所有生态系统中最成功的居民，包括最敌对和最极端的生态系统，或许也就不足为奇了。如果科学家要充分了解微生物群落，以控制它们的发展或操纵它们以造福社会，他们必须了解它们的“胚胎学”和“生理学”。题为“微生物群落：多细胞合作的优势”的学术讨论会将于2002年5月3日至5日在亚利桑那州图森市召开，以就该领域的现状达成共识，并为促进该领域的发展提出建议。研讨会将汇集微生物学、生物信息学、信号和生态学方面的专家。在座谈会之后，将编写一份报告--印刷版和电子版--这份报告将是分析性的和全面的，并将对未来提出切实可行的建议。