PEET: Training New Diatom Systematists for New Priorities

得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的Theriot博士和Jansen博士获得了一笔赠款，用于培训科学家在被称为硅藻的微生物的鉴定和生态学方面的知识。硅藻是一种单细胞生物体，可以支配湖泊、海洋和河流中的微生物。它们对基础科学很感兴趣，因为它们是多样化的(数千个物种)，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用玻璃制成的！)。后一个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周期，人类活动对湖泊生态的影响，以及石油的发现。硅藻的实际应用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，而不是传统的学习领域。这就是这个项目所要解决的问题，而一个突出的事实是，特里奥特博士是北美唯一一位拥有大学教职，并且在硅藻研究的最基本要素--硅藻分类--方面也接受过正式培训的人。他的同事詹森博士是使用DNA和分子生物学对高等植物进行分类领域的领导者。他们的实验室开展了对该项目的成功至关重要的重要合作。这项建议旨在确保新一代硅藻科学家既有经典分类元素的背景，也有在21世纪加深我们对硅藻的理解的工具。Theriot博士和Jansen博士将至少培训两名博士后助理、三名研究生和两名本科生学习硅藻鉴定和分类(=分类学或系统学)。培训计划集中在不同类别硅藻的分类、生理、生态、地质分布和分子生物学三个方面的研究。每项研究的基础研究部分都集中在通过将DNA(细胞的遗传组成)、形态(细胞及其成分的形状和形式)与这些物种的已知化石记录进行比较来重建进化关系。然后将根据硅藻最初进化的环境条件和今天发现硅藻的环境条件来研究进化关系。学生们将创建德克萨斯科学与历史纪念博物馆硅藻收藏的计算机化目录，以及所有相关数据的计算机化，包括物种的插图。这些信息将在万维网上提供。因此，学生将获得必要的实地和实验室技能，以成为称职的现代生物学家，能够独立研究硅藻生物学的更多方面，和/或将其硅藻生物学知识应用于具有社会和经济意义的问题。所有使用硅藻的研究，无论是基础研究还是应用研究，都需要专家鉴定硅藻。该项目将确保新一代硅藻分类学家具备在下个世纪取得成功所必需的新旧技能的结合。它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联系和自然环境健康指标的基本了解。

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.