EAGER: Isolation of ionizing radiation resisting microorganisms from the Gamma Forest in Long Island, NY

在过去的几年里，人们已经意识到从高放射性废物中浓缩较轻的铀和钚的潜力。π吗?美国的长期目标是开发一种基于微生物的技术，可以进行这种富集。在目前的提议中，他的目标是分离出对高强度电离辐射有抵抗力的微生物。位于布鲁克海文国家实验室的伽马森林的土壤将被用来筛选具有所需特性的生物。伽玛森林是1961年建立的一个辐射设施，目的是为系统地研究电离辐射对陆地生态系统及其组成部分的影响提供机会。实验中使用的辐射源是铯-137（9500居里），一种伽马辐射源。在研究中，辐射源被放置在场地中心的一个塔上，场地每天暴露20小时，直到1979年。辐射源周围的暴露率从距离辐射源几米内每天几千伦琴到距离辐射源130米处每天约2伦琴不等。这项拟议研究的工作假设是，根据土壤暴露于Cs137不同距离的辐射强度，不同类型的抗电离辐射微生物可能存活下来。实验方法包括将从伽马森林不同地点获得的土壤暴露在伽马辐射下。然后使用连续稀释和电镀方法从土壤中分离微生物。对电离辐射的抵抗力将通过再次将培养物暴露在伽马辐射中来证实。所有具有辐射抗性的分离培养物将用分子方法进行鉴定。拟建的研究将影响环境科学、微生物学和生物技术学科：新的嗜酸/耐酸和耐辐射的极端微生物有望在拟议的研究中分离出来。这些培养物在生物技术和环境科学领域有多种应用。2. 该研究将扩大革兰氏阴性、革兰氏阳性、酵母和真菌培养物的生物学库和16S rDNA数据库。这将有助于在类似领域工作的科学家识别通过该项目轻松添加到数据库中的文化。拟议的项目将在更广泛的意义上影响科学：1。通过本项目培训的学生将在经典微生物学方面有深入的研究经验，并能更好地为现代微生物技术的新概念做出贡献。2. 该项目加强了社会多元化和经济弱势学生群体的教育体验，包括那些来自纽约市地区代表性不足的群体的学生。在道林学院，未被充分代表的少数民族占学生总数的近50%，在道林学院生物系有70%的女性。此外，通过本项目获得的仪器将用于生物学导论、微生物学和生物化学课程的新实验室实验。这将有助于为我们的社会培养更多受过科学训练的青年。

Principal Investigator: Vishal ShahProposal No: CBET- 1028438 Over the period of the last few years, it has been realized that a potential exists to enrich lighter uranium and plutonium from the high-level radioactive waste. The PI?s long term goal is to develop a microorganism based technology that could carry out such enrichment. In the current proposal he aims to isolate microorganisms having resistance to high intensity ionizing radiation. The soil of Gamma Forest, located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, will be used to screen the organisms having desired properties. Gamma Forest was a radiation facility established in 1961 to provide opportunity for systematic study of the effects of ionizing radiation on a terrestrial ecosystem and its components. The source of radiation used during the experiment was cesium-137 (9500 curies), a gamma emitter. In the study, the radiation source was placed on a tower located in the center of the field and the field was exposed 20 hours/day daily till 1979. Rates of exposure around the source varied from several thousand roentgens per day within a few meters of the source to about 2 roentgens per day at 130 meters. The working hypothesis for the proposed research is that, based on the intensity of radiation that the soil was exposed at various distances from Cs137, different types of ionizing radiation resisting microorganisms would have survived. The experimental approach involves exposing the soil obtained from various locations of gamma forest to gamma radiation. The microorganisms from soil would then be isolated using serial dilution and plating approaches. The resistance to ionizing radiation will be confirmed by again exposing the cultures to gamma radiation. All the isolated cultures having resistance to radiation will be identified using molecular methods.The proposed research will impact the disciplines of Environmental Sciences, Microbiology and Biotechnology: 1. New extremophilic microorganisms that are acidophilic/acid tolerant and radiation tolerant could be expected to be isolated in the proposed research. These cultures could have multiple applications in the field of biotechnology and environmental sciences. 2. The research would expand the library of gram negative, gram positive, yeast and fungi cultures in Biolog and 16S rDNA database. This would help scientists working in similar areas to identify the cultures which would be added in the database through this project with ease.The proposed project will impact science in a broader sense by: 1. The student who will be trained through this project will have an in depth research experience in classical microbiology and be better positioned to contribute to novel concepts in modern microbial techniques. 2. The project reinforces the educational experience for a socially diverse and economically disadvantaged student body, including those from underrepresented groups in the New York City area. At Dowling College, underrepresented minorities are close to 50% of the student population, and there are 70% females in the Department of Biology at Dowling College. 3. Also, instruments obtained through the funding of this project will be used in conducting new laboratory experiments in Introduction to Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry courses. This will aid in developing more scientifically trained youth for our society.