Collaborative Research: The Contribution of Polyamines to N and C cycling in Marine Systems

尽管溶解有机氮(DON)在全球海洋N循环中起着核心作用，但人们对DON的具体成分知之甚少。为了解决这一问题的一个方面，来自肯特州立大学和佐治亚大学的研究人员将检查多胺，这是一种未被研究的微生物产生的DON成分。他们推测，尽管这些富含N的化合物浓度很低，但游离多胺在微生物生态中具有重要作用。为了验证这一假设，研究人员将使用各种化学分析方法检查近岸和开阔海域的溶解多胺和溶解氨基酸的浓度、通量和去向。还将使用最先进的分子技术来确定细菌组合和涉及多胺利用的基因的组成。通过整合生物地球化学和分子方法，并将浮游生物组合的功能基因组与物质通量联系起来，这项工作将提高对DON在海洋环境中的命运和动态的理解，以及多胺作为C和N来源的重要性。这个合作项目将加强机构间的合作伙伴关系，培养研究生，同时也接触到未被充分代表和有前途的一年级和二年级本科生和高中生。学生们将参与研究机会、暑期实习和其他活动。

While dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) plays a central role in global ocean N cycling, little is known about specific DON components. To address one aspect of this, investigators from Kent State University and the University of Georgia will examine polyamines, an under-studied microbially-produced DON component. They hypothehesize that, despite the low concentrations of these N-rich compounds, free polyamines have an important role in microbial ecology. To test this hypothesis, the investigators will examine the concentration, flux and fate of dissolved polyamines and dissolved amino acids at nearshore and open ocean sites using various chemical analyses. The composition of bacterial assemblages and of genes involved in polyamine utilization will also be determined using state-of-the-art molecular techniques. By integrating biogeochemical and molecular approaches, and linking functional genomicsof plankton assemblages to material fluxes, the work will improve the understanding of the fate and dynamics of DON in marine environments, and the importance of polyamines as sources of C and N. This collaborative project willenhance inter-institution partnerships, and train graduate students while alsoreaching out to under-represented and promising first- andsecond-year undergraduate and high school students. The students will be involved with research opportunities, summer internships, and other activities.