Toward Comprehending Prokaryotic Species Using Halorubrum sp. as a Model

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。细菌种类在进化和分类学意义上都知之甚少。最近，通过DNA测序的发展，Halorubrum属已经成为测试关于细菌物种形成性质的假设的绝佳模型。Halorubrum物种提供了一个创新的平台，可以比较细胞形状、糖利用和DNA序列等特征的变化，从而更好地了解细菌物种内部和物种之间的变化。利用这些微生物，我们将提出这样的问题：DNA定义的物种和生理特征之间是否存在相关性？生理特征对种群结构有预测作用吗？DNA定义的物种是否可以预测不同的栖息地？我们能用同样的技术来定义其他物种吗？这些问题的答案将对开发细菌种类问题的解决方案大有帮助。这个项目在其范围内是国际性和跨学科的。来自美国和欧洲的研究人员将培训分类学家和种群遗传学家进行跨学科交流。此外，这项工作有可能影响其他学科，如微生物生态学，这在最基本的层面上需要一个可用和可靠的物种概念。最终，我们对细菌分类能力的提高可能会帮助研究人员和技术人员识别对人类及其农作物和畜群有害的细菌。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Bacterial species are poorly understood both in an evolutionary and taxonomic sense. Recently, through developments in DNA sequencing, the genus Halorubrum has emerged as an excellent model for testing hypotheses regarding the nature of bacterial speciation. Halorubrum species provide an innovative platform to compare modifications between characteristics like cell shape and sugar utilization and DNA sequences to better understand variation in and between bacterial species. Using these microbes, we will ask questions like: Is there a correlation between DNA defined species and physiological traits? Do physiological traits provide predictive power regarding population structure? Can distinct habitats be predicted for DNA defined species? Can we define additional species using the same techniques? Answers to these questions will go a long way towards developing solutions to the bacterial species problem.This project is international and interdisciplinary in its scope. Researchers from the U.S. and Europe will train taxonomists and population geneticists to communicate across disciplinary boundaries. Furthermore, this work has the potential to impact other disciplines like microbial ecology, which at its most fundamental level requires a usable and reliable species concept. Ultimately, improvements in our ability to classify bacteria may help researchers and technicians identify bacteria harmful to humans and or their agricultural crops and herds.