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

迈阿密大学的杰克·费尔博士在南佛罗里达大沼泽地和佛罗里达湾工作，他试图：（1）评估一组遗传多样性的异养真核生物（酵母）在变化和濒危环境中的生物多样性，（2）评估环境参数和限制营养物质（例如，温度、盐度、氮、磷和溶解性有机碳）对酵母群落结构的影响。南佛罗里达生态系统始于奥基乔比湖，向南的水流通过大沼泽地进入佛罗里达湾，并通过一个连接珊瑚礁的立交桥。 这个互动系统已经被管理和管理不善超过100年，并正在拥挤的发展。 对该地区命运的关注导致了正在进行的多机构、机构环境研究。Fell博士的研究项目集中于研究在该地区几个横断面上取样的遗传多样性真菌，并使用现代分子和基因组技术来表征酵母，同时结合环境的物理和化学特征的持续测量。该计划将与该地区的两项大型环境研究协调，即由NSF赞助的佛罗里达国际大学（FIU）LTER站点（长期生态研究）和NOAA的佛罗里达湾计划。 酵母菌是单细胞生物，代表了真菌系统发育的多样性：2门，6纲，29目或相当谱系，90属和1000种。 尽管有这些高数量，酵母是一个研究不足的生物群体;估计表明，自然界中可能只有1%的酵母被发现。酵母具有生态、商业和医学重要性：真菌是全球碳循环的主要驱动力，其使用构成了世界上最大的产业之一。因此，物种灭绝和栖息地丧失可能具有相当大的经济意义。据估计，在大沼泽地系统中将发现大量新物种。 这些新的物种将与现有的分子系统发育方案纳入修订后的专著所有描述的酵母物种，计划的第五版“酵母，分类学研究”进行评估。这次修订将突出酵母系统学的一场革命：从表型遗传学到分子遗传学的转变。该项目特别注意以电子方式提供数据。 该专著的设计是为了在网上查阅：菌株、收集和表型数据将在网上提供;分子序列数据将在基因库上提供;生态数据将在金融情报所LTER网站上提供，该网站与海洋和大气管理局网站相连。重要的酵母菌株将在国际公认的培养物保藏中心（位于伊利诺伊州皮奥里亚的USDA保藏中心;位于荷兰的Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures;以及位于马里兰州的美国典型培养物保藏中心）获得。培训将包括本科生，并纳入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.