RUI-Microbial Observatories: Diversity of Halophilic Bacteria and Geochemical Signatures in a Tropical Solar Saltern

博士们已获得一笔赠款。Lilliam Casillas和Carmen Hernandez（波多黎各- humacao大学）以及Pieter Visscher（康涅狄格大学）将在波多黎各的Cabo Rojo太阳洞穴建立一个微生物观测站。由于这里强烈的太阳辐射、高风速和盐度，盐沼为研究极端条件下的生命提供了绝佳的环境。使用分子工具，在潮湿和干燥时期，将确定该地点存在的不同的嗜盐（即喜盐）生物。一旦这些嗜盐菌被确定，它们的一些代谢活动，如光合作用、有氧呼吸、硫酸盐还原和固氮将被研究。使用微电极，将研究蓝藻席中亲盐菌的原位活动及其对现场生产力的贡献。同时，还将确定地垫沉积物和盐池水柱的化学和地质组成。这项研究的主要目标是了解各种生物、化学和地质过程如何协同作用，以定义卡波罗霍的高盐生态系统。这些研究将提供一个尽可能完整的加勒比热带盐沼的化学和地质条件的情景，并确定微生物在这个生态系统中的作用。在加勒比地区进行这种性质的研究是有限的。在获取该地点的微生物多样性时，预计将分离出具有新适应性和/或生理特性的新生物。特别的重点将放在嗜盐微生物在地球化学转变所需的生命蓬勃发展的作用。由于已知自前寒武纪以来就存在高盐环境，对卡波罗霍盐沼的研究应该能阐明微生物及其副产品在过去如何可能有助于建立现在的生态系统。

A grant has been awarded to Drs. Lilliam Casillas and Carmen Hernandez (University of Puerto Rico-Humacao) and Pieter Visscher (University of Connecticut) to establish a Microbial Observatory in the Cabo Rojo solar salterns of Puerto Rico. The salterns provide an excellent setting for the study of life under extreme conditions due to the intense solar radiation, high wind velocity and salinity at the site. Using molecular tools different halophilic (i.e. salt-loving) organisms present at the site during wet and dry periods will be identified. Once such halophiles have been identified, some of their metabolic activities such as photosynthesis, aerobic respiration, sulfate reduction and nitrogen fixation will be studied. Using microelectrodes, in situ activities of the halophiles in the cyanobacterial mats and their contributions to the productivity of the site will be studied. At the same time, the chemical and geological composition of the sediments of the mats and the water column of the salt ponds will be identified. The main goal of this research is to understand how the various biological, chemical and geological processes act in concert to define the hypersaline ecosystems of Cabo Rojo.These studies will provide a scenario, as complete as possible, of the chemical and geological conditions in a Caribbean tropical saltern and establish the role of microorganisms in this ecosystem. Studies of this nature in the Caribbean are limited. While accessing the microbial diversity of the site it is anticipated that new organisms with novel adaptations and/or physiologies will be isolated. Special focus will be placed on the role of halophilic microorganisms in the geochemical transformations required for life to flourish. As hypersaline environments are known to have existed since Precambrian times, study of the Cabo Rojo salterns should shed light on how microorganisms and their by products could possibly have contributed in the past to establish present ecosystems.