Dimensions: Collaborative Research: Bacterial Taxa that Control Sulfur Flux from the Ocean to the Atmosphere

该项目是基于细菌转化海洋表层水中普遍存在的有机硫化合物二甲基磺酰丙酸（DMSP）的全球重要功能。最近的遗传发现已经确定了DMSP两种主要降解途径中的关键基因，现在确定DMSP加工过程中调节基因表达的因素有利于其中一种或另一种途径的阶段已经开始。介导DMSP循环的细菌的分类已经从基因组和宏基因组测序调查中推断出来，包括海洋中的四个主要群体。了解DMSP降解的调节在这些群体之间是如何不同的，并绘制出这些群体之间的关系，对于理解海洋硫循环和预测其在变化的海洋中的功能是重要的信息。该项目将包括使用模式生物研究、微观世界实验（在海豚岛海洋实验室，美国）和时间序列现场研究与一个自主样本收集仪器（在蒙特利湾，加州）。本项目将研究海水中细菌DMSP降解物的主要分类群如何调节DMSP转化，并探讨细菌功能、遗传和分类多样性对全球硫循环的影响。该项目将培养微生物生物多样性的研究生和博士后学者，并为本科生提供研究机会和指导。学生将获得微生物生态学、硫化学/生物地球化学和环境生物信息学方面的跨学科培训，并将参与研究，以提高我们对海洋浮游细菌如何调节硫的全球命运的理解。一项外展计划将加强有前途的高中生对海洋微生物在全球元素循环中的作用和多样性的理解。乔治亚州雅典市一所种族多元化高中的大学先修课程（AP）生物学学生将参加海洋微生物研究，该研究涵盖了新的AP生物学课程中的关键学习目标。学生将使用从乔治亚州沿海海水中分离出来的细菌菌株进行课堂实验练习，以学习生态学、微生物学、分子生物学和生物信息学概念。在萨佩洛岛的年终实地考察中，学生们将分离出新的菌株，这些菌株将成为AP生物学学生下一堂课的研究生物。两名高中生将被选中在首席研究员的实验室进行暑期研究实习。该项目还支持公共水族馆（DISL Estuarium和Monterey Bay Aquarium）和夏季研究生课程的教育和推广工作。

This project is based on the globally important function of bacterial transformation of the ubiquitous organic sulfur compound dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) in ocean surface waters. Recent genetic discoveries have identified key genes in the two major DMSP degradation pathways, and the stage is now set to identify the factors that regulate gene expression to favor one or the other pathway during DMSP processing. The taxonomy of the bacteria mediating DMSP cycling has been deduced from genomic and metagenomic sequencing surveys to include four major groups in the ocean. Understanding how the regulation of DMSP degradation differs among these groups and maps to the relationships between these groups is important information for understanding the marine sulfur cycle and predicting its function in a changing ocean. The project will incorporate the use of model organism studies, microcosm experiments (at Dauphin Island Sea Lab, AL), and time-series field studies with an autonomous sample collection instrument (at Monterey Bay, CA). This project will ascertain how the major taxa of bacterial DMSP degraders in seawater regulate DMSP transformations, and address the implications of bacterial functional, genetic, and taxonomic diversity for global sulfur cycling..The project will train graduate students and a post-doctoral scholar in microbial biodiversity and provide research opportunities and mentoring for undergraduate students. Students will obtain interdisciplinary training in microbial ecology, sulfur chemistry/biogeochemistry, and environmental bioinformatics, and will participate in research to improve our understanding of how marine bacterioplankton regulate the global fate of sulfur. An outreach program will enhance understanding of the role and diversity of marine microorganisms in global elemental cycles among promising high school students. Advanced Placement (AP) Biology students at a racially diverse Athens, GA, high school will participate in marine microbial research that covers key learning goals in the new AP Biology curriculum. Students will conduct classroom laboratory exercises with bacterial strains isolated from coastal Georgia seawater to learn ecological, microbiological, molecular biological, and bioinformatic concepts. During an end-of-the-year field trip to Sapelo Island, students will isolate new strains that become the study organisms for the next class of AP Biology students. Two high school students will be selected for summer research internships in the laboratories of the principal investigators. The project also supports education and outreach efforts at public aquaria (DISL Estuarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium) and summer graduate courses.