CAREER: Ecosystem Processes in the Age of Antibiotics

职业：抗生素时代的生态系统过程

• 批准号: 1845417
• 负责人: Michael Strickland
• 金额: $ 65.17万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Idaho
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-03-01 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1845417&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Ecosystem; Processes; Age; Antibiotics

In 1928, Alexander Fleming identified the antibiotic properties of penicillin. Since this discovery antibiotics have been a boon for human health as well as for agricultural livestock production. In fact, the latter utilizes 80% of the antibiotics produced in the United States, a staggering 33 million pounds a year. Most of these antibiotics and antibiotic derivatives ultimately enter the environment, leading to the assertion that no environment on earth is free from the influence of agricultural antibiotics. Despite this, little research has examined the environmental influence agricultural antibiotics are likely to have, for example, on soil microbial communities and the ecosystem processes they mediate. This research will determine the effect antibiotics have on soil food webs and ecosystem processes both now and in an uncertain future. While examining the environmental implications of antibiotics, this project will include training at the graduate student and postdoctoral levels, and develop an authentic, expeditionary style curriculum that can be integrated across multiple middle schools which enables students to actively participate in research. Using a combined set of survey, field, and lab experiments this research will determine: 1) biogeographic patterns of the soil resistome (i.e. the collection and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes); 2) the implications of antibiotics for soil food webs and ecosystem processes; and 3) the interaction between antibiotic inputs and temperature changes. Soil microbial communities are central to the healthy functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. However, these communities are likely to be markedly affected by antibiotic inputs derived from exogenous sources. For instance, antibiotic inputs may alter microbial efficiency leading to lower ecosystem carbon and nutrient retention, affect soil food web structure and community interactions, and potentially influence the response of soil microbial communities to global environmental change. This research is designed to investigate the potentially important, but under-studied, role antibiotic inputs have on terrestrial ecosystems. Additionally, this research seeks to better understand the susceptibility of particular soil communities and ecosystem function to antibiotic perturbation. The results gained from this research will lead to a more complete understanding of the potential impact antibiotic inputs have on soil community structure and function, and the implication of these inputs in the future. In addition to training a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher, the educational component of this project will expose middle school students -- a student population that is at a critical juncture in deciding their lifetime career objectives, but often not actively engaged in science -- to multiple curricular modules that aim to increase their knowledge of soil, microbial, and ecosystem ecology. These young students will also be active participants in the project by collecting data and conducting research directly related to the scientific objectives of this project. Overall this project will elucidate the environmental implications of antibiotics while also providing a foundation in scientific discovery for middle school students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

1928年，亚历山大弗莱明发现了青霉素的抗生素特性。自从这一发现以来，抗生素对人类健康和农业牲畜生产都是一个布恩。事实上，后者使用了美国生产的80%的抗生素，每年惊人的3300万磅。大多数这些抗生素和抗生素衍生物最终进入环境，导致断言地球上没有环境不受农业抗生素的影响。尽管如此，很少有研究考察农业抗生素可能对环境产生的影响，例如，对土壤微生物群落及其介导的生态系统过程的影响。这项研究将确定抗生素对土壤食物网和生态系统过程的影响，无论是现在还是在不确定的未来。在研究抗生素对环境的影响的同时，该项目将包括研究生和博士后水平的培训，并开发一个真实的，远征式的课程，可以在多所中学进行整合，使学生能够积极参与研究。使用一组调查，田间和实验室实验，本研究将确定：1）土壤抗性组的地理模式（即抗生素抗性基因的收集和多样性）; 2）抗生素对土壤食物网和生态系统过程的影响; 3）抗生素输入和温度变化之间的相互作用。土壤微生物群落是陆地生态系统健康运行的核心。然而，这些社区很可能受到来自外源的抗生素投入的显著影响。例如，抗生素的投入可能会改变微生物的效率，导致生态系统碳和养分的保留减少，影响土壤食物网结构和群落相互作用，并可能影响土壤微生物群落对全球环境变化的反应。这项研究旨在调查抗生素输入对陆地生态系统的潜在重要但研究不足的作用。此外，这项研究旨在更好地了解特定土壤群落和生态系统功能对抗生素干扰的敏感性。从这项研究中获得的结果将导致更全面地了解抗生素投入对土壤群落结构和功能的潜在影响，以及这些投入在未来的意义。除了培训一名研究生和博士后研究员外，该项目的教育部分还将使中学生-这一学生群体正处于决定其一生职业目标的关键时刻，但往往不积极参与科学-接触多个课程模块，旨在增加他们对土壤、微生物和生态系统生态学的知识。这些青年学生还将积极参与该项目，收集数据并开展与该项目的科学目标直接相关的研究。总的来说，该项目将阐明抗生素对环境的影响，同时也为中学生提供科学发现的基础。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Antibiotics and temperature interact to disrupt soil communities and nutrient cycling

• DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2021.108437
• 发表时间: 2021-12
• 期刊: Soil Biology and Biochemistry
• 影响因子: 9.7
• 作者: J. Lucas;Bronte S. Sone;Dana Whitmore;M. Strickland

Evaluating the roles of microbial functional breadth and home‐field advantage in leaf litter decomposition

评估微生物功能广度和主场优势在凋落物分解中的作用

• DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.14026
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Functional Ecology
• 影响因子: 5.2
• 作者: Osburn, Ernest D.;Hoch, Peter J.;Lucas, Jane M.;McBride, Steven G.;Strickland, Michael S.
• 通讯作者: Strickland, Michael S.

Volatile and Dissolved Organic Carbon Sources Have Distinct Effects on Microbial Activity, Nitrogen Content, and Bacterial Communities in Soil

• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-022-01967-0
• 发表时间: 2021-11
• 期刊: Microbial Ecology
• 影响因子: 3.6
• 作者: Steven G. McBride;Ernest D. Osburn;Jane L Lucas;Julia S. Simpson;Taylor Brown;J. Barrett;M. Strickland