International: Isolation and Characterization of Iron-Reducing and Iron-Oxidizing Bacteria from a Biofilm Community

该奖项支持Dianne K.加州理工学院的纽曼和Paula S.委内瑞拉西蒙玻利瓦尔大学的苏亚雷斯说。这些研究人员对微生物的金属转化有着长期的兴趣，近年来他们都研究了生物膜群落中的铁循环。目前，对光合铁氧化菌的多样性、遗传学和生物化学知之甚少，对这些生物如何与生物膜中的其他细菌相互作用更是知之甚少。这些研究人员将合作从委内瑞拉圣埃斯特万国家公园一艘腐蚀的钢船表面形成的生物膜中分离铁氧化菌和铁还原菌。预计该项目将提供见解，这将有助于开展长期合作，研究光养铁氧化的生物化学和遗传学，并测试铁氧化光养生物可以形成由铁循环与铁还原剂共同维持的生物膜的假设。

This award supports a new collaboration between Dr. Dianne K. Newman of the California Institute of Technology and Dr. Paula S. Suarez of the Universidad Simon Bolivar in Venezuela. These researchers share a long-standing interest in metal transformations by microorganisms and have both in recent years studied iron cycling in biofilm communities. Currently, very little is known about the diversity, genetics, and biochemistry of phototrophic iron-oxidizers, and even less is know about how these organisms interact with other bacteria in biofilms.These researchers will collaborate to isolate iron-oxidizers and iron-reducers from a biofilm forming on the surface of a corroding steel boat in San Esteban National Park, Venezuela. It is anticipated that this project will provide insights that will help launch a long-term collaboration to study the biochemistry and genetics of phototrophic iron-oxidation, and test the hypothesis that iron-oxidizing phototrophs can form biofilms that are sustained by iron-cycling in concert with iron-reducers.