RAPID: Initial Colonists of Freshly Emplaced Volcanic Rocks at High Latitude: A Case Study of the 2021 Volcanic Eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland

地球微生物学的一项基本任务是了解新形成的基质如何被微生物群落定植，这可能最终在岩石风化、土壤形成和生态系统发展中发挥作用。火山爆发提供了许多机会来增加我们对陆地生态系统形成的了解。然而，很少有团队能够在火山基底形成的早期阶段收集样本和数据。大多数研究都是在火山爆发后的几十年到几百年（即，在微生物群落建立之后很久）开始采样的，只有一项研究能够在火山爆发后的三个月收集数据。因此，人们对新沉积的火山岩的最初殖民者知之甚少，特别是在高纬度地区。2021年3月19日，冰岛西南部雷克雅内斯半岛的Fagradalsfjall火山附近的新火山爆发，开始喷出新的熔岩流。研究新沉积的火山岩从形成之初的初始殖民者，为回答有关微生物演替和新生态系统群落建立的许多问题提供了一个独特的机会。该项目将为新生态系统的微生物、地球化学和物理化学特征采集样本和数据。考虑到对新鲜熔岩流进行即时采样的难得机会，这项工作有可能将我们对微生物群落演替的理解从无菌环境转变为建立和有弹性的群落。该项目还将培训一名研究生进行实地取样和实验室分析。这项工作的结果将在样本和数据收集后不久向公众公布。研究生和研究者将就这项工作发表公开演讲。他们还将与美国驻冰岛大使馆和富布赖特-冰岛委员会协调，促进在冰岛的美国研究人员的快速反应。该项目旨在回答有关新沉积火山岩的最初殖民者的基本问题：1 .最早的火山岩殖民者的分类多样性是什么？它是如何随着时间而变化的？殖民者的潜在来源是什么？这些早期殖民者的代谢能力如何？在Fagradalsfjall火山爆发前、期间和至少5个月之后的冰岛，为研究者提供了一个难得的机会来收集爆发前和爆发后的样本和数据来回答这些问题。将测试两个假设：（H1）火山岩的早期殖民者将以低丰度，低分类多样性存在，并依赖于光和/或化学岩石营养代谢；（H2）火山岩将在多样性和功能方面拥有越来越复杂的微生物群落，包括有机异养生物和光自养生物，仅在几个月后。该项目将获取新的生态系统形成的微生物、地球化学和物理化学特征的样本和数据。这项研究产生的新发现将为进一步的研究奠定基础，这些研究将用测序和地球化学方法分析样本，并将研究时间延长（数年）。这项研究将为研究新形成的火山基质如何被微生物群落定植提供急需的证据，特别是研究早期殖民者的分类身份和功能能力，以及它们的外部来源。为了研究早期殖民者的起源，他们还将从水、岩石、土壤和生物气溶胶中收集样本，作为快速反应的一部分。在后续研究中，他们将使用下一代基于测序的微生物来源跟踪来估计新形成的熔岩流中发现的微生物来源。研究成果将对直接领域之外的许多其他领域感兴趣，特别是寻求对微生物种群与其环境之间相互作用的机制理解以及复杂群落的涌现特性的领域。新的培养分离物还将提供关于早期殖民者在元素循环、地理生物学和生物化学中的作用的信息。该项目将支持一名研究生前往冰岛进行实地工作，并处理样品以返回其研究所。这项工作的结果将是他博士研究的重点。这项工作的成果将通过出版物、公共数据库和公开讲座传播。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

An essential task in geomicrobiology is to understand how newly formed substrates become colonized by microbial communities, which may ultimately play a role in rock weathering, soil formation and ecosystem development. Volcanic eruptions offer numerous opportunities to increase our understanding of terrestrial ecosystem formation. However, very few teams have been able to collect samples and data at early stages of volcanic substrate formation. Most studies have started their samplings years, often decades to hundreds of years after the eruption (i.e., well after the establishment of microbial communities), and only one study was able to gather data three months after the eruption. Therefore, very little is known about the initial colonists of freshly deposited volcanic rocks, particularly at high latitudes. On March 19th 2021, the new volcanic eruption near Mount Fagradalsfjall, on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Southwest Iceland, began extruding a fresh lava flow. Studying the initial colonists of the freshly deposited volcanic rock from the onset of its formation represents a unique opportunity to answer many questions about the microbial succession and community establishment of new ecosystems. This project will acquire samples and data for microbial, geochemical and physicochemical characterization of the new ecosystem formation. Considering this rare chance for an immediate sampling of a fresh lava flow, this work has the potential to transform our understanding of microbial community succession from a sterile environment to an established and resilient community. This project will also train one graduate student in field sampling and laboratory analyses. Results from this effort will be made publicly available shortly after sample and data collection. The graduate student and the investigator will give public lectures about the work. They will also coordinate with the U.S. Embassy in Iceland and Fulbright – Iceland Commission to promote the RAPID response by U.S. researchers in Iceland.The project seeks to answer fundamental questions about the initial colonists of freshly deposited volcanic rocks: 1-What is the taxonomic diversity of the earliest colonists of volcanic rocks and how does it change over time? 2-What are the potential sources of colonizers? 3-What are the metabolic capabilities of these early colonists? Being in Iceland before, during and at least 5 months after the start of the Fagradalsfjall volcanic eruption, affords the investigator a rare opportunity to collect pre-, and post-eruption samples and data to answer these questions. Two hypotheses will be tested: (H1) early colonizers of the volcanic rock will be present in low abundance, low taxonomic diversity and rely on photo- and/or chemolithotrophic metabolism and (H2) the volcanic rock will harbor an increasingly complex microbial community in terms of diversity and function over time, including organoheterophs and photoautotrophs, after only a few months. The project will acquire samples and data for microbial, geochemical and physicochemical characterization of the new ecosystem formation. The new discoveries resulting from this study would set the stage for further research that will analyze the samples with sequencing and geochemical approaches and extend the study over a longer period (years). The research will provide urgently needed evidence to examine how newly formed volcanic substrates become colonized by microbial communities, looking specifically at the taxonomic identity and functional capabilities of early colonists but also at their external sources. To examine the origin of early colonists they will also collect samples from water, rock, soil and bioaerosols as part of the RAPID response. In the follow up study, they will use next-generation sequencing-based microbial source tracking to estimate the source of microbes found to occupy the newly formed lava flows. The research products will be of interest to a number of other fields outside the immediate field, specifically fields seeking a mechanistic understanding of interactions between microbial populations and their environment, and the emergent properties of the complex community. The new culture isolates will also provide information on the roles of early colonizers in elemental cycles, geobiology, and biochemistry. This project will support the travel of a graduate student to perform field work in Iceland and to process samples for return to his Institution. Results from this work will be a key focus of his Ph.D. research. Results from this effort will be disseminated through publications, public databases, and public lectures.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.