Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2004

这一行动为NSF 2004财年微生物生物学博士后奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持关于原生动物、微藻、真菌、古生物、细菌和病毒物种的基本生物学的培训和研究，这些物种通常不被认为是模式生物。此外，它还为新近获得博士学位的人提供了在微生物生物学方面获得额外培训的机会，在知名科学家的赞助下获得研究经验，并在本科和研究生培训期间拓宽他们的科学视野，超越研究经验。这些奖学金的进一步设计是为了帮助新科学家跨越传统的学科界限指导他们的研究工作，并利用包括外国地点在内的独特的研究资源、地点和设施。这项研究和培训计划的标题是“古生物中的四醚类化合物合成”。古生物类脂具有独特的结构和功能，是一种重要的进化标记。拟议的研究旨在阐明四醚类脂合成途径后期的关键酶步骤。生物信息学、分子遗传学、DNA微阵列和分析化学技术正被用来询问候选基因功能，使用极端嗜酸性的考古子酸铁原体。拟议的研究重点是通过揭示古生菌合成膜脂的机制，研究古生菌如何能够在以pH、温度和离子强度为特征的极端环境中茁壮成长。

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.