Research Starter Grant: Spatial Interactions between Microbes and Organic Matter across Different Scales

研究启动资助：不同尺度的微生物和有机物之间的空间相互作用

• 批准号: 0932440
• 负责人: Erika Marin-Spiotta
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0932440&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Starter; Grant; Spatial; Interactions

Microorganisms are important drivers of biological and chemical processes that control the retention and loss of carbon and plant nutrients from terrestrial ecosystems. It is important to understand the factors controlling microbial distribution and activity in soil. The physical location, or spatial organization, of microbes in soil is critical in determining rates of plant detritus decay, nutrient release, and carbon sequestration. The proposed research will study how differences in plant type (pasture grasses versus forest trees) and soil disturbance (grazing) affect interactions between microbes, plant-derived organic matter, and mineral constituents of soils at multiple spatial scales, and how these affect carbon and nutrient cycling in soil. This study will apply new advances in spectroscopy and microscopy, in particular, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and NanoSIMS, to visualize and chemically characterize individual biological and physical components in soils at the micro- and nanometer scales. Differences in microbial community composition and activity between sites, and within the soil architecture, will be measured using new methods coupled with NanoSIMS, as well as more conventional enzymatic and lipid analysis methods.Microorganisms are crucial agents in ecological processes, but are one of the least studied components of ecosystems. The study of their distribution and interactions in soils has been limited by methodological constraints. Technological advances now allow us to better describe their habitats and function. An exciting and challenging aspect of this study is the integration of data across different spatial scales, from that of soil aggregates (centimeters to millimeters) to that of bacterial cells and their component (micrometers and nanometers). These new methods have been successfully applied in the medical and geochemical fields, but there are only a handful of studies currently exploring their application in soil biology and biogeochemistry. The broader impacts of this research are many-fold. Accurate predictions of how terrestrial ecosystems will respond to future climate and land-use changes, and in particular, whether they absorb or release carbon to the atmosphere, require an understanding of the biological and physical interactions between microbes, plants, and soil. Soils are one of the largest and most dynamic terrestrial reservoirs of carbon, much greater than the atmosphere and land vegetation. Thus, they exert an important influence on atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Another important application of this research is the management of microbiological processes that contribute to soil fertility for the sustainable production of food and bioenergy.

微生物是生物学和化学过程的重要驱动因素，可控制陆地生态系统中碳和植物营养素的保留和损失。 了解控制土壤中微生物分布和活性的因素很重要。土壤中微生物的物理位置或空间组织对于确定植物碎屑衰减，养分释放和碳固存的速率至关重要。拟议的研究将研究植物类型（牧场草与林木）和土壤干扰（放牧）如何影响微生物之间的相互作用，植物来源的有机物和土壤的矿物质成分在多个空间尺度上，以及它们如何影响土壤中的碳和养分。这项研究将在光谱和显微镜中采用新的进步，特别是次级离子质谱法（SIMS）和纳米sims，以可视化和化学表征微观和纳米尺度上土壤中的个体生物学和物理成分。将使用新方法与纳米菌，更常规的酶促和脂质分析方法来测量微生物群落组成和土壤结构之间的微生物群落组成和活性的差异。Microyrismiss是生态过程中的至关重要药物，但是生态过程中最少的生态学成分之一。对土壤中的分布和相互作用的研究受到方法论上的限制。技术进步现在使我们能够更好地描述他们的栖息地和功能。这项研究的一个令人兴奋且具有挑战性的方面是从不同空间尺度的数据整合，从土壤聚集体（厘米到毫米）到细菌细胞及其成分（微米和纳米）的数据。这些新方法已成功地应用于医学和地球化学领域，但是目前只有少数研究探讨了它们在土壤生物学和生物地球化学中的应用。这项研究的更广泛影响是很多折叠的。准确的预测陆地生态系统将如何应对未来的气候和土地利用变化，尤其是它们是否吸收或释放碳到大气中，都需要了解微生物，植物和土壤之间的生物学和物理相互作用。土壤是碳最大，最动态的陆地储层之一，远大于大气和陆地植被。因此，它们对二氧化碳和其他温室气体的大气浓度产生了重要影响。这项研究的另一个重要应用是对微生物过程的管理，这有助于土壤生育能力，以实现食物和生物能源的可持续生产。