Research Starter Grant: Genomic Analysis of Microbial Communities: Revealing the Ecological Function of Non-Cultivated Planctomycetes in Soil

康奈尔大学的Daniel H. Buckley博士获得了一项研究启动基金，以确定非栽培植物菌在土壤微生物群落中的功能意义。宏基因组文库和全基因组扩增将用于获得植物的基因组DNA片段，以深入了解这些微生物在土壤群落中的生理潜力。通过使用分子技术来研究与农业管理实践和土壤氮和硫循环有关的植物菌的多样性和分布，这些基因组支持的见解将扩展到生态背景中。土壤是地球的薄薄的表皮，所有陆地生命都依赖于它。我们的土壤是大量微生物的家园，它们的活动影响土壤肥力、大气成分、污染物分解以及向地下水和水生生态系统的排放。虽然人们认识到土壤微生物的重要性已经有一段时间了，但识别、表征和研究这些微生物的生态学所需的技术直到最近才发展起来。植物菌是最近发现的一种细菌，在世界各地的土壤中都有发现，可能占耕地土壤微生物群落的21%。尽管它们在土壤中数量丰富且无处不在，但对这些微生物在陆地生态系统中所起作用的理解仍然难以捉摸。该研究项目将提供前所未有的关于植物菌的生态学和进化史的信息，并确定这些微生物在土壤微生物群落中介导的环境过程。

A research starter grant has been awarded to Dr. Daniel H. Buckley of Cornell University to determine the functional significance of non-cultivated Planctomycetes in soil microbial communities. Metagenomic libraries and whole genome amplification will be used to obtain genomic DNA fragments from Planctomycetes to provide insight into the physiological potential of these microorganisms in soil communities. These genome-enabled insights will be extended into an ecological context by using molecular techniques to examine the diversity and distribution of Planctomycetes in relation to agricultural management practices and in relation to soil nitrogen and sulfur cycling. Soil is the thin skin of the Earth on which all terrestrial forms of life depend. Our soils are home to a staggering array of microorganisms whose activities impact soil fertility, atmospheric composition, the breakdown of pollutants, and discharges to groundwater and aquatic ecosystems. While the importance of soil microorganisms has been recognized for some time, the techniques needed to identify, characterize and study the ecology of these organisms have only been recently developed. Planctomycetes are a recently discovered group of bacteria which have been observed in soils all over the world and may constitute as much as 21% of the microbial community in arable soils. Despite their abundance and ubiquity in soils, an understanding of the role these microbes play in terrestrial ecosystems remains elusive. This research program will provide unprecedented information about the ecology and evolutionary history of Planctomycetes, with the specific objective of determining the environmental processes mediated by these microorganisms in soil microbial communities.