Biodiversity of Micro-Fungi (yeast) in the South Florida Everglades Watershed Ecosystem

迈阿密大学的Jack Fell博士在南佛罗里达大沼泽地和佛罗里达湾工作，试图：(1)评估在不断变化和濒危的环境中异养真核生物（酵母）的系统发育多样性群体的生物多样性；(2)评估环境参数和限制性营养物质（如温度、盐度、氮、磷和溶解有机碳）对酵母群落结构的影响。南佛罗里达的生态系统始于奥基乔比湖，水流向南流经大沼泽地，进入佛罗里达湾，并通过一个连接珊瑚礁的交汇处。这个互动系统已经被管理和管理不善超过100年，并且由于发展而变得拥挤不堪。对该地区命运的关注导致了持续的多机构、机构环境研究。费尔博士的研究项目主要集中在对该地区多个样带取样的系统发育多样性真菌进行研究，并利用现代分子和基因组技术对酵母进行表征，同时对环境的物理和化学特征进行持续测量。该项目将与该地区的两个大型环境研究项目——由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）资助的佛罗里达国际大学（FIU）长期生态研究项目（ltr）和美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）的佛罗里达湾项目——进行协调。酵母是一种单细胞生物，代表了真菌的系统发育多样性：2门，6纲，29目或等效谱系，90属和1000种。尽管数量众多，但酵母是一种未被充分研究的生物；据估计，自然界中可能只有1%的酵母菌被发现。酵母具有生态、商业和医学上的重要性：真菌是全球碳循环的主要驱动力，它们的利用构成了世界上最大的产业之一。因此，物种灭绝与栖息地丧失具有相当大的经济意义。据估计，将在大沼泽地系统中发现大量的新物种。这些新物种将用现有的分子系统发育计划进行评估，以纳入所有已描述的酵母物种的修订专著，即计划中的第五版“酵母，分类研究”。修订将突出酵母系统学的革命：从表型到分子系统发育的转换。本项目特别关注数据的电子可得性。该专著专为基于网络的访问而设计：菌株，收集和表型数据将在线；分子序列数据将在GenBank上；生态数据将在FIU LTER网站上提供，该网站与NOAA网站相连。重要的酵母菌株将在国际公认的文化收藏（美国农业部在伊利诺伊州皮奥里亚的收藏；荷兰的中央局voor Schimmelcultures；以及马里兰州的美国类型文化收藏）中提供。培训将包括本科生，并包括与机构人员和资源管理人员的互动。

Working in the South Florida Everglades and Florida Bay, Dr. Jack Fell of the University of Miami seeks to: (1) assess the biodiversity of a phylogenetically diverse group of heterotrophic eukaryotes (the yeasts) in a changing and endangered environment, and (2) evaluate the effects of environmental parameters and limiting nutrients (e.g., temperature, salinity, nitrogen, phosphorous and dissolved organic carbon) on yeast community structure. The South Florida ecosystem initiates at Lake Okeechobee with a southward water flow through the Everglades into Florida Bay with an interchange that connects the coral reefs. This interactive system has been managed and mis-managed for over 100 years and is being crowded by development. Concern over the fate of the region has resulted in on-going multi-agency, institutional environmental studies. Dr. Fell's research program concentrates on study of phylogenetically diverse fungi sampled over several transects through the region, and using modern molecular and genomic techniques to characterize the yeasts, in conjunction with ongoing measures of physical and chemical features of the environment. The program will coordinate with two large environmental studies of the region, the Florida International University (FIU) LTER site (Long Term Ecological Research), sponsored by NSF, and NOAA's Florida Bay program. Yeasts, which are unicellular organisms, represent a phylogenetic diversity of fungi: two phyla, six classes, 29 orders or equivalent lineages, 90 genera and 1000 species. Despite these high numbers, the yeasts are an understudied group of organisms; estimates indicate that possibly only 1% of the yeasts in nature have been discovered. Yeasts have ecological, commercial and medical importance: fungi are primary drivers of the global carbon cycle and their use constitutes one of the world's largest industries. Consequently, species extinction with habitat loss can have considerable economic significance. Estimates indicate that a large number of new species will be discovered in the Everglades system. These new species will be evaluated with existing molecular phylogenetic schemes for incorporation into a revised monograph of all described yeast species, the planned fifth edition of "The Yeasts, A Taxonomic Study". The revision will highlight a revolution in yeast systematics: conversion from phenotypic to molecular phylogeny. Specific attention in this project is directed to electronic availability of data. The monograph is designed for web based access: strain, collection and phenotypic data will be on-line; molecular sequence data will be on GenBank; and ecological data will be available on the FIU LTER web site, which is linked to the NOAA websites. Important strains of yeasts will be available at internationally recognized culture collections (the USDA collection in Peoria, Illinois; Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures in the Netherlands; and American Type Culture Collection in Maryland). Training will include undergraduate students and incorporate interactions with agency personnel and resource managers.