PEET: Training New Diatom Systematists for New Priorities

博士们已获得一笔赠款。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的Theriot和Jansen在硅藻微生物的鉴定和生态学方面对科学家进行了培训。硅藻是一种单细胞生物，可以主宰湖泊、海洋和河流中的微观生命。它们对基础科学很感兴趣，因为它们种类繁多（数千种），很容易在细胞培养中进行实验，并且具有许多不寻常的细胞特性（例如，它们的细胞壁实际上是由玻璃制成的！）。后一事实也使它们在化石记录中丰富，这使它们具有更重要的实际用途，如研究气候变化的自然循环，人类活动对湖泊生态的影响，以及发现石油。硅藻的实际用途引起了人们对硅藻研究的极大关注，事实上，很少有人真正致力于硅藻的基础研究。另一方面，新技术吸引了许多学生进入分子生物学等领域，远离传统的学习领域。这就是这个项目所要解决的问题，而Theriot博士是北美唯一一个拥有大学教员职位的人，他还接受过硅藻研究最基本要素的正式培训，即硅藻的分类，这一事实凸显了这一问题。他的同事詹森博士是利用DNA和分子生物学对高等植物进行分类领域的领军人物。他们的实验室进行了重要的合作，对这个项目的成功至关重要。该提案旨在确保新一代硅藻科学家具有经典分类元素和工具的背景，以进一步了解21世纪的硅藻。Drs。Theriot和Jansen将在硅藻鉴定和分类（=分类学或系统学）方面培养至少两名博士后助理，三名研究生和两名本科生。培训项目围绕硅藻的分类、生理学、生态学、地质分布和分子生物学三个方面展开。每项研究的基础研究部分都集中在通过比较这些物种的DNA（细胞的基因组成）、形态学（细胞及其成分的形状和形式）与已知化石记录来重建进化关系。然后，将研究硅藻的进化关系与硅藻最初进化和今天发现的环境条件的关系。学生们将创建得克萨斯科学与历史纪念博物馆硅藻收藏的计算机目录，以及计算机化所有相关数据，包括该物种的插图。这些信息将在万维网上提供。因此，学生将获得必要的现场和实验室技能，成为称职的现代生物学家，能够独立调查硅藻生物学的进一步方面和/或将他们的硅藻生物学知识应用于重要的社会和经济问题。所有使用硅藻的基础和应用研究都需要对硅藻进行专家鉴定。这一项目将确保新一代硅藻分类学家具备新老结合的技能，从而在下个世纪取得成功。他们将能够竞争学术职位，培训其他专家，成为那些需要了解硅藻知识实际应用的人的资源，并直接促进我们对食物网中这些重要环节和自然环境健康指标的基本理解的增长。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Theriot and Jansen at the University of Texas at Austin to train scientists in the identification and ecology of microorganisms known as diatoms. Diatoms are single-celled organisms that can dominate the microscopical life in lakes, oceans, and rivers. They are of interest to basic science because they are diverse (thousands of species), are easily manipulated in cell cultures for experiments, and have many unusual cell properties (e.g., their cell wall is literally made out of glass!). The latter fact also makes them abundant in the fossil record, which makes them important more practical uses such as the study of natural cycles of climate change, the impact of human activities on lake ecology, and the discovery of oil. The practical uses of diatoms have drawn so much attention to diatom studies, in fact, that few people are actually devoted to basic diatom studies. On the other hand, new technologies have attracted many students to fields such as molecular biology and away from traditional fields of study. This is the problem addressed by this project and is highlighted by the fact that Dr. Theriot is the only person in North America with a university faculty appointment who also has formal training in the most basic element of diatom studies, their classification. His colleague, Dr. Jansen, is a leader in the field of using DNA and molecular biology to classify higher plants. Their labs have conducted important collaborations essential to the success of this project. This proposal is designed to ensure that there will be a new generation of diatom scientists with a background in both the classical elements of classification and the tools to further our understanding of diatoms in the 21st century. Drs. Theriot and Jansen will train, at a minimum, two postdoctoral associates, three graduate students, and two undergraduates in the science of diatom identification and classification (= taxonomy, or systematics). The training program is centered on three studies of the classification, physiology, ecology, geological distribution and molecular biology of different groups of diatoms. The basic research component of each study is centered on reconstructing evolutionary relationships by comparing the DNA (the genetic makeup of the cells), the morphology (shape and form of the cell and its components) with the known fossil record of these species. The evolutionary relationships will then be studied in relationship to environmental conditions in which the diatoms originally evolved and in which they are found today. The students will create computerized catalogues of the Texas Memorial Museum of Science and History diatom collections, as well as computerize all related data including illustrations of the species. This information will be available on the World Wide Web. The students thus will receive the field and laboratory skills necessary to become competent modern biologists capable of independent investigations into further aspects of diatom biology and/or to apply their knowledge of diatom biology to problems of societal and economic importance. All studies, basic and applied, using diatoms require expert identification of diatoms. This project will ensure a new generation of diatom taxonomists with the combination of old and new skills necessary to be successful in the next century. They will be able to compete for academic positions, to train other experts, to be a resource for those needing to know about practical application of knowledge about diatoms, and to contribute directly to the growth of our basic understanding of these important links in the food web and indicators of the health of the natural environment.