Collaborative Research: Creatine Cycling in Marine Bacterial and Phytoplankton Assemblages

合作研究：海洋细菌和浮游植物群中的肌酸循环

• 批准号: 1635369
• 负责人: Deborah Bronk
• 金额: $ 38.8万
• 依托单位: College of William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-10-01 至 2020-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1635369&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Creatine; Cycling; Marine

High rates of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) production and utilization in aquatic systems are typically attributed to microbial activity. Though it is known that there is a tight coupling between the production and consumption of biologically available DON, the composition, dynamics, and ecological significance of this rapidly cycled DON pool are less well understood. This proposal focuses on a component of the DON pool, creatine, which is historically understood as a product of metazoan activity, but appears to be both produced by phytoplankton and consumed by marine bacteria. Creatine is present in seawater in measurable quantities, which led to the hypothesis that creatine may be significant component of the marine DON cycle. DON cycling likely has a bearing on fundamental marine ecosystem processes with large implications for carbon and nitrogen turnover on a global scale. Broader impacts of this project will include outreach that focuses on connecting scientists with K-12 students through research experiences for teachers and lesson development in collaboration with the K20 Center for Educational and Community Renewal, a statewide education research and development center at the University of Oklahoma. The project will integrate the research with inquiry-based teaching of rural secondary science teachers through Authentic Research Experiences in oceanographic science and microbial ecology. The K20 network includes 96% of Oklahoma schools, providing a unique opportunity to impact STEM education in Oklahoma.The results of this project will help develop a better understanding of DON cycling, the ecological context of creatine uptake activity, and identify both creatine producing and consuming organisms in the marine environment. The importance of creatine cycling will be assessed via 15N tracer studies along the natural coastal-to-offshore productivity gradient observed in the North Atlantic. Tracer and molecular approaches will be used to investigate the importance of phytoplankton vs. bacteria in creatine uptake and, the taxonomic identities of creatine utilizing bacteria will be interrogated via molecular, stable isotope probing (SIP), and RT-qPCR approaches.

水体中溶解有机氮（DON）的高速率产生和利用通常归因于微生物活性。 虽然它是已知的，有一个紧密的耦合之间的生产和消费的生物可利用的DON，组成，动力学和生态意义，这种快速循环的DON池不太清楚。这项建议的重点是一个组成部分的DON池，肌酸，这是历史上被认为是一个产品的后生动物活动，但似乎是由浮游植物和海洋细菌消耗。 肌酸存在于海水中的可测量的量，这导致了肌酸可能是海洋DON循环的重要组成部分的假设。DON循环可能对基本海洋生态系统过程产生影响，对全球范围内的碳和氮周转产生重大影响。 该项目的更广泛的影响将包括外展，重点是通过与俄克拉荷马州大学的全州教育研究和发展中心K20教育和社区更新中心合作，为教师和课程开发提供研究经验，将科学家与K-12学生联系起来。 该项目将通过海洋科学和微生物生态学的真实研究经验，将研究与农村中学科学教师的探究式教学结合起来。K20网络包括96%的俄克拉荷马州学校，提供了一个独特的机会，影响干教育在俄克拉荷马州。该项目的结果将有助于发展更好地了解DON循环，肌酸摄取活动的生态环境，并确定肌酸生产和消耗生物在海洋环境中。 肌酸循环的重要性将通过沿着北大西洋观察到的自然海岸到近海生产力梯度的15 N示踪剂研究进行评估。 示踪剂和分子方法将用于研究浮游植物与细菌在肌酸摄取中的重要性，并将通过分子、稳定同位素探测（SIP）和RT-qPCR方法询问肌酸利用细菌的分类身份。