EAPSI: How Geomagnetic Field Strength Influences Magnetoreception and biodiversity within Magnetotactic Bacteria

趋磁细菌（MTB）是一种单细胞、氧敏感的生物，能合成富含铁的颗粒，称为磁小体。磁小体在形态上是不同的，反映了MTB独特的生态学。因此，当磁小体保存在地质记录中时，它们可以用作环境变化和微生物多样性的代理，而环境变化和微生物多样性反过来可能对气候敏感。这个项目将测试MTB用于定向的磁场强度是否会调节它们的发育和磁小体的形成。因此，EAPSI将研究地磁场强度如何影响现代环境中的生物多样性和生物功能，从而提高磁小体作为贫氧环境和深部微生物多样性代理的严谨性。研究人员将与中国北京中国科学院的潘永新博士合作。潘博士是结核分枝杆菌微生物学领域的全球领导者，他的设施和专业知识对该项目的成功至关重要。磁化石（磁化的磁小体）有可能编码微生物多样性，周围环境条件和外部环境力量之间的联系。这个EAPSI项目的目标是测试是否有一个可测量的关系之间的地磁场的强度，生物成因，和MTB磁小体生物矿化。研究人员将测试地磁场的外力是否以及如何影响水生生态系统的生物多样性。此外，该项目将展示最小和最敏感的生物体，微生物，如何对地磁场的变化作出反应。PI将与中国北京中国科学院的Pan Yongxin博士合作，在规定的磁场强度下培养MTB的田间和实验室样品。然后，她将使用基因组分析，透射电子显微镜（TEM）和矿物磁性测量来表征这些生物体，以确定在可变磁场强度下培养的MTB在遗传学和磁小体生物矿化方面的差异（通过观察形态、晶体结构、组成，和磁小体的磁性晶粒尺寸/畴状态）该奖项是通过东亚和太平洋暑期研究所计划，并支持美国研究生的暑期研究;它是由国家科学基金和中国科学技术部共同资助的。

Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) are single celled, oxygen-sensitive organisms that synthesize iron-rich particles called magnetosomes. Magnetosomes are morphologically distinct and reflect the unique ecology of MTB. Therefore, when magnetosomes are preserved in the geological record they can be used as proxies for environmental change and microbial diversity, that in turn may be sensitive to climate. This project will test if magnetic field strength, which MTB use for orientation, modulates their phylogeny and magnetosome formation. Thus, this EAPSI will investigate how geomagnetic field strength affects biodiversity and biological function in modern environments, thereby improving the rigor of magnetosomes as proxies for oxygen-poor environments and microbial diversity in deep time. The researcher will collaborate with Dr. Yongxin Pan at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Dr. Pan is a global leader in MTB microbiology and access to his facilities and expertise will be indispensable for the success of this project. Magnetofossils (fossilized magnetosomes) have the potential to encode linkages between microbial diversity, ambient environmental conditions, and external environmental forces. The goal of this EAPSI project is to test if there is a measurable relationship between the strength of the geomagnetic field, phylogeny, and magnetosome biomineralization in MTB. The researcher will test if and how the external force of the geomagnetic field affects biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, this project will demonstrate how the smallest and most sensitive organisms, microbes, respond to changes in geomagnetic field throughout time. The PI will work with Dr. Yongxin Pan, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, to culture field and laboratory samples of MTB in prescribed magnetic field intensities. She will then characterize these organisms using genomic analyses, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and mineral magnetic measurements to determine how MTB cultured in variable magnetic field strengths differ phylogenetically and in magnetosome biomineralization (by observing morphology, crystallographic structure, composition, and magnetic grain size/domain state of magnetosomes).This award is through the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program and supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student; it is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.