Collaborative Research: Direct Characterization of Adaptive Nutrient Stress Responses in the Sargasso Sea using Protein Biomarkers and a Biogeochemical AUV

海洋中的微生物群落可能会令人惊讶地多样化。这种多样性使得研究控制控制营养循环的特定反应的单个有机体和反应变得困难。过去的研究证实，铁和氮是生物生长的关键元素。然而，越来越多的证据表明，其他化学物质，如二氧化硅、锌、钴和维生素B12可能也同样重要。该项目将在全新的自主水下机器人(AUV)的第一次研究部署期间，使用新的分子方法分离活性蛋白质并将其与特定的化学循环联系起来，从而提供前所未有的群落分布情况。AUV将通过将水直接泵入其过滤装置，以编程模式收集样本，然后将样本返回到船上进行分析。百慕大大西洋时间序列研究(BATS)站提供了丰富的支持数据，是对公海微生物生态和化学进行这一创新性调查的地点。此外，数据将通过伍兹霍尔海洋研究所和生物和化学海洋学数据管理办公室正在开发的海洋蛋白质门户网站广泛分发给其他科学家。DATA还将为世界卫生组织海洋生物无机化学课程提供一个新的教学模块。新设计和建造的生物地球化学AUV CLIO的首次科学部署将产生一个新的数据集，以前所未有的细节和高垂直分辨率研究西北大西洋少营养海洋的海洋微生物生物地球化学循环。首先，该项目建议了解微生物群落是否通过营养反应适应来反映不同的化学成分和蓝藻物种。此外，这项研究将确定在深部叶绿素最大值中发现的低光原氯球生态型中的铁胁迫是否是受季节性尘埃通量影响的持久特征。来自CLIO就地泵送能力的高分辨率垂直数据是严格研究这些生物地球化学问题的基础。这一极具变革性的数据集将极大地促进对该地区营养和微量元素循环的理解，并将是对这些新方法为海洋微生物生物地球化学研究所代表的潜在革命性能力的首次现场验证。

Microscopic communities in the ocean can be surprisingly diverse. This diversity makes it difficult to study the individual organisms and reactions that control specific reactions controlling nutrient cycles. Past studies confirm that iron and nitrogen are vital elements for biological growth. There is increasing evidence, however, that other chemicals such as silica, zinc, cobalt, and vitamin B12 may be just as important. This project will provide an unprecedented view of community distributions using new molecular methods to isolate and link active proteins to specific chemical cycles during the very first research deployment of a brand-new autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The AUV will collect samples in programed patterns by pumping water directly into its filtering mechanism and then return the samples to the ship for analysis. The Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) station, which provides abundant supporting data, is the site for this innovative investigation into the microbial ecology and chemistry of the open oceans. Additionally, data will be widely distributed to other scientists through the Ocean Protein Portal website being developed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) and the Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office. Data will also contribute a new teaching module in the Marine Bioinorganic Chemistry course at WHOI. This first scientific deployment of the newly engineered and constructed biogeochemical AUV, Clio, will generate a novel dataset to examine marine microbial biogeochemical cycles in the Northwestern Atlantic oligotrophic ocean in unprecedented detail and at high vertical resolution. First the project proposes to understand if the microbial community reflects the varying chemical composition and cyanobacterial species through nutrient response adaptations. Additionally, the research will determine if iron stress in the low light Prochlorococcus ecotyope found in the deep chlorophyll maximum is a persistent feature influenced by seasonal dust fluxes. The highly resolved vertical data from the in situ pumping capabilities of Clio are fundamental to a rigorous examination of these biogeochemical questions. This highly transformative dataset will greatly advance understanding of the nutrient and trace element cycling of this region and will be the first field validation of the potentially revolutionary capability these new approaches represent for the study of marine microbial biogeochemistry.