Microbial Observatories: Collaborative Research: Microbial Diversity and Function in the Permanently Ice-Covered Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

赠款已授予J. Priscu博士（蒙大拿州立大学），M。Madigan（Southern Illinois University），B. Lanoil（加州大学-滨江分校）和S.Giovannoni（俄勒冈州州立大学）研究南极洲麦克默多干谷永久冰封湖泊中的原核生物，目的是鉴定和描述新的生物，并阐明其基因组和代谢的那些方面，这些方面对于理解它们在地球化学循环中的作用至关重要。该研究将使用分子工具与传统和高通量培养技术相结合，以确定负责这些湖泊中存在的当代地球化学梯度的代表性原核生物群。麦克默多干谷形成了地球上已知的最干燥和最寒冷的生态系统，直到最近，人们还认为那里几乎没有生命。为这些湖泊建立微生物观测站的主要原因是不仅要了解环境如何控制生物的多样性，还要了解多样性本身如何控制生态系统的功能。 麦克默多干谷湖泊系统以独特的方式回答了这个问题。由于这些湖泊与世隔绝，缺乏高等生命形式，以及它们的进化历史，它们提供了一个独特的实验竞技场来寻找新的微生物，研究微生物多样性和生态系统功能的相互作用。这项研究的结果将对生物多样性、生物技术、地球生物学、极地生态学和天体生物学方面不断增长的文献具有重要意义。研究人员将与现有的和拟议的新计划合作，将研究期间收集的系统发育和生理数据存档，以便所有感兴趣的人都可以通过互联网轻松访问。将与NSF极地方案办公室和麦克默多长期生态研究站支持的高度可见的教育、外联和人类多样性方案建立强有力的联系，产生一个将对社会产生广泛影响的项目。

Grants have been awarded to Drs. J. Priscu (Montana State University), M. Madigan (Southern Illinois University), B. Lanoil (University of California - Riverside) and S.Giovannoni (Oregon State University) to study prokaryotic organisms within the permanently ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica with the objectives of identifying and characterizing novel organisms and elucidating those aspects of their genome and metabolism that are critical to understanding their role in biogeochemical cycles. The study will use molecular tools in concert with conventional and high throughput culturing techniques to define representative prokaryotic groups responsible for the contemporary geochemical gradients that exist in these lakes. The McMurdo Dry Valleys form the driest and coldest ecosystem known on Earth and has, until relatively recently, been thought to harbor little life. A primary reason for establishing a Microbial Observatory for these lakes is to understand not just how the environment controls the diversity of organisms, but also how diversity itself controls the functioning of ecosystems. The McMurdo Dry Valley lake systems lend themselves to answering this question in a unique way. Given the isolation, the lack of higher life forms, and the evolutionary history of these lakes, they offer a unique experimental arena to search for novel microorganisms and study the interplay of microbial diversity and ecosystem function. Results from this study will be significant to the growing bodies of literature in biodiversity, biotechnology, geobiology, polar ecology, and astrobiology. The investigators will work with existing and proposed new programs to archive the phylogenetic and physiological data collected during the study so that all interested can access it easily through the Internet. Strong linkages will be made with the highly visible education, outreach and human diversity programs supported by the NSF Office of Polar Programs and the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research station, yielding a project that will have a broad impact on society.