TCUP SGR: Salish Kootenai College Life Sciences Hg(II) Methylating Microbiota and Methyl-Hg(II) Concentrations in Flathead Lake

TCUP SGR：Salish Kootenai 生命科学学院 Hg(II) 甲基化微生物群和 Flathead Lake 中甲基 Hg(II) 浓度

• 批准号: 2013863
• 负责人: Christina Rush
• 金额: $ 19.99万
• 依托单位: Salish Kootenai College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-15 至 2022-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2013863&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: TCUP; SGR; Salish; Kootenai; College

A goal of the Tribal Colleges and Universities Program (TCUP) is to increase the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instructional and research capacities of specific institutions of higher education that serve the Nation's indigenous students. Expanding the research capacity at these institutions expands the opportunities for students to pursue challenging, rewarding careers in STEM fields, provides for research studies in areas that may be locally relevant, and encourages a faculty community to look beyond the traditional classroom for intellectual and professional growth. This project aligns directly with that goal, and moreover may prove to be a model for similar engagement at other small community colleges.The project aims to identify microbiota and methyl-Hg(II) concentrations in Flathead Lake to map the environmental impacts climate change may be incurring on the Flathead reservation and in the wider Flathead valley in Montana. Elemental mercury (Hg) is deposited into the atmosphere primarily from sources including coal-burning and forest fires. Atmospheric Hg(II) accumulates in large water bodies, such as Flathead Lake on the Flathead reservation. Hg(II) in the lakebed soil sediments is subject to methylation by methylating microbiota, such as the methanogens sp. Once methylated, Hg(II) bioaccumulates/biomagnifies in the environment increasing with the size and phylum of animals reaching, often, toxic levels in apex predators and humans. Preliminary work by undergraduate students at the Salish Kootenai College has identified methanogen sp. in the soil-bed samples from two locations in the lower Flathead Lake and methyl-Hg(II) in the water. Salish Kootenai College will sample Flathead Lake for Hg(II)-methylating microbiota in the lakebed soil and for concentrations of methyl-Hg(II) in the water. Experimental procedures will include RNA isolation and sequencing to identify the local microbe population and to measure the concentration of methyl-Hg(II) in the water at those microbe sites. Further sampling will aim to provide a solid statistical basis for climate change reference as it will impact the Flathead valley where climate change will result in higher Hg(II) deposition in the lake and promote microbial growth for Hg(II) methylation.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.

部落学院和大学方案的一个目标是提高为全国土著学生服务的特定高等教育机构的科学、技术、工程和数学教学和研究能力。扩大这些机构的研究能力，扩大了学生在STEM领域追求具有挑战性和回报的职业的机会，为可能与当地相关的领域提供了研究，并鼓励教师社区超越传统课堂寻求智力和专业成长。该项目与这一目标直接相关，而且可能被证明是其他小型社区学院类似参与的典范，该项目旨在确定平头湖的微生物群和甲基汞（II）浓度，以绘制气候变化可能对平头保留区和蒙大拿州更广泛的平头山谷造成的环境影响。 元素汞（Hg）主要通过燃煤和森林火灾等来源沉积到大气中。大气中的Hg（II）在大型水体中积累，如平头保留区的平头湖。湖床土壤沉积物中的汞（二价汞）会通过甲基化微生物群（如产甲烷菌）而发生甲基化。一旦甲基化，汞（二价汞）会在环境中生物累积/生物放大，随着动物的体型和种类的增加，汞（二价汞）往往会在顶级捕食者和人类中达到有毒水平。 Salish Kootenai学院本科生的初步工作已经在Flathead湖下游两个地点的土壤床样本中确定了产甲烷菌，并在水中确定了甲基汞（II）。 Salish Kootenai学院将对平头湖进行采样，以了解湖底土壤中的汞（II）甲基化微生物群和水中的甲基汞（II）浓度。 实验程序将包括RNA分离和测序，以确定当地的微生物种群，并测量这些微生物所在地水中的甲基汞（II）浓度。 进一步的取样将旨在为气候变化参考提供坚实的统计基础，因为它将影响平头河谷，在那里，气候变化将导致湖泊中汞（II）沉积量增加，并促进汞（II）甲基化的微生物生长。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。