RII Track-1: Linking Microbial Life to Ecosystem Services Across Wyoming's Dynamic Landscape

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Non-technical DescriptionMicrobial organisms are ubiquitous and abundant in soil and aquatic environments. One teaspoon of soil may contain over a billion bacteria, belonging to thousands of distinct species. These organisms play essential roles in cycling nutrients, decomposing organic matter, and determining the fate of pollutants released by human activities. This project will collect samples of microbes from thousands of sites across Wyoming that differ in their local climate, land use, and plant life. The samples will be analyzed to better understand the environmental roles of the microbes and their responses to changes in precipitation, soil properties, and land use. Species composition and ecological relationships to the ecosystem will be determined using DNA, RNA, and protein sequencing. Statistical methods will be used to uncover the relationships between microbes and how the overall ecosystems function. The results will help predict how different regions will respond to environmental disturbances and provide policy makers tools to better manage natural resources. The project will also train workers in how to handle the huge volumes of data generated by such research; these skills will be transferrable to many sectors of the Wyoming economy. Outreach efforts to Native American, Latino, and hearing-impaired students will promote diversification of the workforce trained in STEM fields.Technical Description The overarching aims of this project are to advance process-based understanding of soil and freshwater microbiomes, to develop cutting-edge data-science training and research and development capacity in Wyoming, and to position the University of Wyoming as a national leader in microbial ecology and data science. To define the causal factors that determine microbial distributions, over nineteen thousand samples of soil-, water-, and plant-associated microbes will be collected and processed, taking advantage of environmental gradients that exist across the state. Samples will be studied using a variety of ?omic? (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic) and biogeochemical technologies, including enzymatic assays and stable isotope probing. Relationships between microbial life and ecological consequences will be modeled and tested by statistical and experimental means. Investments in equipment infrastructure, inter-disciplinary training for diverse students and postdocs, and new faculty hires will enhance the research capacity of Wyoming. The focus on data science training will serve the technology workforce needs of Wyoming and benefit the state economy.