GCR: Microbial Response to a Changing Planet: The Role of Microbes in Mineral Precipitation Resulting in Exceptional Fossil Preservation and CO2 Sequestration

这个日益融合的研究项目将测试总体假设，即有机材料的特殊保存部分受到微生物介导的碳酸盐矿物快速沉积的影响，以应对大气pCO 2升高，以及这些微生物将大气CO2封存为碳酸盐矿物的机制可以被识别和利用，以减轻这种温室气体的大气浓度上升。为了有效地研究这些假设，一个研究小组跨越微生物学，蛋白质组学，古免疫学，沉积学/地球化学，古生物学和工程组装。该项目的结果将增进对以下方面的了解：（一）特殊保存的机制及其潜在应用，（二）CO2水平与微生物进化之间的关系，（三）温室/高pCO 2条件下的环境特征，以及（四）微生物参与碳固存。 在这项拟议的工作中研究的微生物机制可能为开发经济和可扩展的方法来封存CO2提供一条途径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。

This Growing Convergence Research project will test the overarching hypotheses that exceptional preservation of organic material was influenced, in part, by microbially mediated, rapid deposition of carbonate minerals in response to elevated atmospheric pCO2, and that the mechanisms by which these microbes sequestered atmospheric CO2 as carbonate minerals can be discerned and harnessed to mitigate rising atmospheric concentrations of this greenhouse gas. To effectively study these hypotheses, a research team spanning microbiology, proteomics, paleoimmunology, sedimentology/geochemistry, paleontology, and engineering was assembled. The results of this project will enhance understanding of: (i) mechanisms of exceptional preservation and their potential application, (ii) the relationship between CO2 levels and microbial evolution, (iii) characterization of environments under greenhouse/high-pCO2 conditions, and iv) microbial participation in carbon sequestration. Microbial mechanisms investigated within this proposed work may provide a route for the development of economical and scalable methods to sequester CO2.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.