NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

2008 财年 NSF 少数族裔博士后研究奖学金

• 批准号: 0804231
• 负责人: Paula Welander
• 金额: $ 12.3万
• 依托单位: Welander Paula V
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0804231&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Minority; Postdoctoral; Research; Fellowship

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Paula V. Welander is "Elucidating the biosynthesis and physiological function of hopanoid lipids in phototrophic bacteria" and is under the sponsorship of Professor Dianne K. Newman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The atmosphere of the ancient Earth was composed primarily of carbon dioxide, some nitrogen, and essentially no oxygen. It is thought that, through oxygenic photosynthesis, cyanobacteria (also known as blue-green algae)were responsible for the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere. Modern cyanobacteria are significant producers of 2-methylhopanoids, which are lipids similar in structure to sterols such as cholesterol. Because cyanobacteria are the only microbes capable of oxygenic photosynthesis, 2-methylhopanoid fossils discovered in ancient rocks and sediments have been used as "biomarkers" for both cyanobacteria and oxygenic photosynthesis itself. However, significant 2-methylhopanoid production has been recently discovered in another bacterium, Rhodopseudomonas palustris, which also uses photosynthesis for growth, but does not produce oxygen in the process. The main objective of the research plan is to understand why bacteria produce 2-methylhopanoids and determine if these molecules are appropriate markers for oxygenic photosynthesis. This research is is identifying the genes required to produce 2-methylhopanoids in R. palustris and then create gene deletion mutants that are no longer able to produce 2-methylhopanoids. These mutants are being used to demonstrate how the lack of 2-methylhopanoids affects the growth, physiology and structure of this organism. This research provides an excellent opportunity for interdisciplinary training in molecular geobiology with extensive training in bacterial metabolism. The broader impacts include increasing the participation of an underrepresented group at the postdoctoral level. The Fellow is serving as a role model and mentoring students through outreach programs in biology.

该行动资助了2008财年NSF少数民族博士后奖学金。该奖学金支持奖学金获得者在主办实验室的研究和培训计划，该奖学金获得者还提出了扩大生物学参与的计划。Paula V. Welander的研究和培训计划的标题是“阐明光养细菌中hopanoid脂质的生物合成和生理功能”，由麻省理工学院的Dianne K. Newman教授赞助。古代地球的大气主要由二氧化碳和一些氮气组成，基本上没有氧气。据认为，通过含氧光合作用，蓝藻（也被称为蓝绿藻）负责地球大气的氧化作用。现代蓝藻是2-甲基hopanoids的重要生产者，这是一种结构类似于胆固醇等固醇的脂质。由于蓝藻是唯一能够进行富氧光合作用的微生物，在古代岩石和沉积物中发现的2-甲基藿烷类化石被用作蓝藻和富氧光合作用本身的“生物标志物”。然而，最近在另一种细菌——红假单胞菌（Rhodopseudomonas palustris）中发现了大量的2-甲基hopanoid，这种细菌也利用光合作用生长，但在这个过程中不产生氧气。该研究计划的主要目的是了解为什么细菌产生2-甲基藿烷类化合物，并确定这些分子是否是氧光合作用的合适标记。这项研究正在确定在palustris中产生2-甲基hopanoids所需的基因，然后创建不再能够产生2-甲基hopanoids的基因缺失突变体。这些突变体被用来证明缺乏2-甲基藿烷是如何影响这种生物体的生长、生理和结构的。这项研究为分子地理生物学的跨学科训练提供了一个极好的机会，并在细菌代谢方面进行了广泛的训练。更广泛的影响包括增加一个代表性不足的群体在博士后水平的参与。该研究员是一个榜样，并通过生物拓展项目指导学生。