Carbon isotopic heterogeneity in modern bacterioplankton: Model systems for understanding paleoenvironmental signatures.

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。通过过去20年的研究，科学界对海洋微生物多样性的理解发生了一场革命。分子测序揭示了几个以前不为人知的细菌和古生菌的主要类群，但海洋微生物总多样性超过了目前的物种估计。哈佛大学的初步研究表明，浮游细菌和真核浮游生物在碳同位素特征上存在系统性差异，因此现代浮游细菌显示出碳同位素漂移的证据。哈佛大学的研究人员将通过从不同地区的表层海洋中采集浮游细菌样本，研究海洋表面浮游细菌的碳同位素分布模式，以确定不同类型表层水中微生物群落的新陈代谢差异。这项研究的结果将加强目前对上层海洋碳循环和生物泵作用的理解。此外，这项研究还可以确定和改进在营养稀少的开阔海洋环境和富含有机物质的大陆边缘环境中微生物生物量出口之间的潜在差异。这些信息可以让科学家了解过去和未来温暖气候对海洋微生物多样性的影响。这项研究将为一名博士后研究员和两名研究生提供支持。参与该项目的私人投资机构还将利用这一成果，与哈佛大学微生物科学倡议合作，举办一次社区外联活动。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Through research in the past two decades, the science community has seen a revolution in the understanding of marine microbial diversity. Molecular sequencing has revealed several previously unknown major groups of Bacteria and Archaea, yet total marine microbial diversity exceeds current species estimates. Preliminary research from Harvard University shows a systematic difference in the carbon isotope signature between bacterioplankton and eukaryote plankton, such that modern bacterioplankton show evidence of a carbon isotope shift. By sampling bacterioplankton from diverse regions of the surface ocean, researchers from Harvard University will examine patterns of carbon isotope distribution in marine surface bacterioplankton to identify the metabolic differences among microbial communities of various surface water types. Results from this research will enhance the current understanding of upper ocean carbon recycling and the action of the biological pump. In addition this research may identify and refine potential differences between export of microbial biomass in oligotrophic open ocean environments and organic-rich continental margin environments. This information could allow for scientist to understand the implications of past and future warm climates on marine microbial diversity. This research will provide support for a postdoctoral researcher, as well as two graduate students. The PIs involved in this project will also utilize the results to host a community outreach event in collaboration with the Harvard University Microbial Sciences Initiative.