EAPSI: Physical characterization of extreme, deep-subsurface microorganisms from Homestake Gold Mine

EAPSI：Homestake 金矿极端深层微生物的物理特征

• 批准号: 1415099
• 负责人: Lily Momper
• 金额: $ 0.51万
• 依托单位: Momper Lily M
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1415099&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Physical; characterization; extreme; deep

Earth's deep subsurface is a typically extreme, energy-starved ecosystem. This vast biosphere represents the largest microbial habitat on Earth and is a similar environment to those found in the subsurface of other planets. This project aims to grow and characterize microbial life in Earth's deep continental subsurface, specifically at the former Homestake Mine, in South Dakota. It was recently discovered that the continental deep subsurface is a populated ecosystem where single-celled organisms survive. In the continental subsurface, microbial life has been detected 3.3 km below Earth's surface. Only a few deep subsurface microorganisms have been grown in the laboratory hence how they survive remains unclear. Biological samples from the deep subsurface will not grow using traditional microbiological cultivation techniques. Therefore, successfully cultivating its residents requires innovative technology. Dr. Hiroyuki Imachi at JAMSTEC-Yokosuka in Japan has designed low-flow bioreactors to cultivate fastidious, low energy-adapted anaerobes (organisms that use a terminal electron acceptor other than O2) from the subsurface. For the current study, water and rock samples collected from 5,000 feet below surface at Homestake Mine will be incubated in low-flow bioreactors. The bioreactors contain mineral substrates and media designed to mimic the deep subsurface environment from which samples were collected. Subsequent collections of effluent from the reactors have yielded enrichments of subsurface anaerobes, excellent for isolation and metabolic characterization of typically low-density, slow-growing microorganisms. The methods to taxonomically and metabolically characterize these previously unstudied microorganisms will include rRNA and functional gene sequencing, lipid analyses, metabolic substrate usage, and qPCR and FISH probe design for in situ environmental detection. Because Earth's subsurface is analogous to that of other planets, understanding how life exists in Earth's deep subsurface will help in the search for life in the subsurface of other planets. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

地球的深层地下是一个典型的极端，能源匮乏的生态系统。这个巨大的生物圈是地球上最大的微生物栖息地，与其他行星的地下环境相似。该项目旨在培养和表征地球深层大陆地下的微生物生命，特别是在南达科他州的前Homestake矿。最近发现，大陆深层地下是一个单细胞生物生存的人口稠密的生态系统。在大陆地下，在地球表面以下3.3公里处发现了微生物生命。只有少数深层地下微生物在实验室中生长，因此它们如何生存仍不清楚。使用传统的微生物培养技术，来自深层地下的生物样品将无法生长。因此，成功培养其居民需要创新技术。日本JAMSTEC-Yokosuka的Hiroyuki Imachi博士设计了低流量生物反应器，用于从地下培养挑剔的低能量适应性厌氧菌（使用O2以外的末端电子受体的生物体）。在目前的研究中，从Homestake Mine地表以下5，000英尺处收集的水和岩石样本将在低流量生物反应器中培养。生物反应器包含矿物基质和介质，旨在模拟收集样品的深层地下环境。随后收集的反应器流出物产生了丰富的地下厌氧菌，优秀的隔离和代谢特性的典型低密度，生长缓慢的微生物。对这些以前未研究的微生物进行分类和代谢表征的方法将包括rRNA和功能基因测序、脂质分析、代谢底物使用以及用于原位环境检测的qPCR和FISH探针设计。由于地球的地下与其他行星的地下相似，了解地球深层地下的生命存在方式将有助于在其他行星的地下寻找生命。这个NSF EAPSI奖是与日本科学促进协会合作资助的。