RAPID-Collaborative Research: The Microbial Response to the Gulf Oil Spill: Linking Metabolomes and Metagenomes

该项目将评估墨西哥湾持续发生的深水地平线漏油事件对微生物群落的影响和演变。该项目涉及一个协作团队，该团队汇集了所有必要领域的优势。帕姆·莫里斯博士是一位高素质的海洋微生物学家，乔·苏弗利塔博士是碳氢化合物影响微生物群落的微生物学专家。这是对最新类型分析的及时和前沿的应用，这些分析将结合微生物代谢学和元基因组学方法，就有关微生物群落的反应提供有意义的答案。这项工作将利用现场正在进行的抽样工作，并已组织了适当的安排，以有利于拟议的微生物工作的方式收集样本。为此，PIS正在与两个国家/联邦实验室密切合作，开展这项工作：Terry Hazen博士(美国能源部劳伦斯·伯克利国家实验室)和Richard Coffin博士(海军研究实验室)。这将允许对受污染的烟柱内和沿海沉积物样本以及未受污染的对照样本进行采样。因此，该项目将以一种直接与生态相关的方式采用非常高科技的方法。广泛的影响：深水地平线漏油事件现在被认为是美国历史上最大的海上漏油事件。该项目将产生有关泄漏对特定自然微生物系统的影响的重要信息。因此，这是一个不幸但有用的实验机会，可以对这类事件形成坚实的科学理解。该项目应有助于为有关勘探和钻井企业的以事实为中心的决策提供所需的知识。这是来自两个EPSCoR州(南卡罗来纳州和俄克拉何马州)的研究人员之间的新合作，并将他们的互补专业知识结合在一起。每一名警察都有很长的各级培训和教育历史。虽然短暂的时间表排除了一些通常预期的活动，但私人投资者将努力寻找研究机会，特别是为本科生，参与研究。显然，这样的研究经历可能会被证明既令人兴奋又有影响力。

This project will evaluate the impact and evolution of microbial communities impacted by the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The project involves a collaborative team that brings together strengths in all the requisite areas. Dr. Pam Morris is a highly qualified marine microbiologist and Dr. Joe Suflita is an expert in the microbiology of hydrocarbon-impacted microbial communities. This is a timely and cutting edge application of the latest types of analyses that will combine microbial metabolomic and metagenomic approaches to provide meaningful answers regarding the response of the microbe communities in question. The work will take advantage of on-going sampling efforts on-site and have already organized the appropriate arrangements to have the samples collected in a manner conducive to the proposed microbial work. To do this, the PIs are working closely with two national/federal laboratories on this effort: Dr. Terry Hazen (US DOE Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) and Dr. Richard Coffin (Naval Research Laboratory). This will allow sampling of both contaminated in-plume and coastal sediment samples, as well as uncontaminated control samples. Thus, the project will bring to bear very high-tech approaches in a manner that will have direct ecological relevance.Broader Impacts:The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is now considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. This project will generate important information on the impacts of the spill on specific natural microbial systems. As such, it is an unfortunate, yet useful, experimental opportunity to develop solid scientific understanding of such events. The project should help provide the knowledge required for fact-centered policy decisions regarding exploration and drilling enterprise. This is a new collaboration between investigators from two EPSCoR states (South Carolina & Oklahoma), and brings together their complementary expertise. The PIs each have long histories of training and education at all levels. Though the short timeline precludes some of the normally anticipated activities, the PIs will endeavor to find research opportunities, especially for undergraduates, to participate in the research. Clearly, such a research experience could prove both exciting and influential.