Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2004

这一行动为2004财政年度的NSF微生物生物学博士后奖学金提供资金。 该研究金支持关于原生动物、微藻、真菌、古菌、细菌和病毒物种的基础生物学的培训和研究，这些物种通常不被视为模式生物。此外，它为最近的博士生获得微生物生物学的额外培训提供了机会，在既定科学家的赞助下获得研究经验，并拓宽他们的科学视野，超越本科和研究生培训期间的研究经验。 这些奖学金还旨在帮助新科学家指导他们的研究工作，跨越传统学科，并利用独特的研究资源、地点和设施，包括国外的地点。“脂肪在结构和功能上是独特的，是一个重要的进化标志。拟议的研究是针对阐明关键酶的步骤，在后期的四醚脂质合成途径。生物信息学，分子遗传学，DNA微阵列和分析化学技术正在使用极端嗜酸性古菌Ferroplasma acidarmanus询问候选基因功能。 拟议研究的重点是古菌极端微生物如何能够通过揭示古菌合成膜脂的机制，在pH值，温度和离子强度极端的环境中茁壮成长。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.The research and training plan is entitled "Tetraether lipid synthesis in Archaea." Archaeal lipids are unique in their structure and function and represent an important evolutionary marker. The proposed studies are directed towards elucidation of key enzymatic steps in the later part of the tetraether lipid synthesis pathway. Bioinformatic, molecular genetic, DNA microarray, and analytical chemical techniques are being employed to interrogate candidate gene functions using the extremely acidophilic archaeon Ferroplasma acidarmanus. The focus of the proposed research is how archaeal extremophiles are able to thrive in environments characterized by extremes in pH, temperature, and ionic strength by revealing the mechanism by which Archaea synthesize membrane lipids.