NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Symbiosis as a Means of Survival for Biological Soil Crust Microbes

研究员姓名：Erin CarrProposal编号：2209217研究标题：共生作为生物土壤结皮微生物生存的手段海绵科学家(S)和主办机构(S)：爱荷华州立大学的史蒂文·哈里斯和内布拉斯加-林肯大学的韦恩·里霍夫这项行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，调查基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。该项目旨在了解生长在沙漠土壤中的微生物如何利用化学相互作用来获得重要的营养物质，并经受住沙漠生态系统的极端压力。生活在沙漠土壤中的微生物包括细菌、藻类、真菌和地衣。大多数研究关注的是光合作用的细菌和藻类，以及固氮菌。这些微生物分别为整个群落提供了碳糖和氨氮等营养物质。然而，真菌物种在这些群落中的作用仍不清楚。这项工作旨在通过确定这些真菌物种的作用来增加对沙漠微生物群落的了解，据信这包括为整个群落提供黑色素以增强紫外线和应激抗性。这项研究将有助于提供新的知识，使利用这些微生物群落进行土壤金属去除，增加农业土壤养分，在干旱时保持土壤水分，防止非沙漠生态系统的荒漠化成为可能。生物土壤结皮(或称土壤结皮)是指在养分枯竭的沙漠土壤表面形成生物膜的微生物群落。假设土壤结皮中的微生物通过类似于地衣共生的瞬时相互作用来获取养分并在极端的非生物胁迫下生存。为了研究这一假说，从土壤结皮中分离出的新微生物物种将被用于：1)显示非地衣黑化真菌可以与细菌和藻类建立相互作用；2)观察真菌黑色素如何影响土壤结皮中的微生物，以确定黑色素是否可以被视为一种非生物抗性的“公共产品”并用作碳源；以及3)确定在多物种培养过程中产生的代谢物和基因调控的差异，以确定这些微生物如何相互作用。这位研究员还有其他目标，通过以下方式提高本科生研究的代表性和经验：1)从代表性不足的群体中招聘本科生研究人员；2)开发每月基本实验室技术研讨会，为所有本科生提供免费的实验室体验。来自该奖学金的额外资金将用于通过开发虚拟会议来加强与该领域的同行研究人员的合作。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Fellow's name: Erin CarrProposal number: 2209217Research title: Symbiosis as a Means of Survival for Biological Soil Crust MicrobesSponsoring scientist(s) and host institution(s): Steven Harris, Iowa State University; and Wayne Riekhof, University of Nebraska-LincolnThis action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This project aims at understanding how microbes growing in desert soils can use chemical interactions to obtain vital nutrients and withstand the extreme stress of desert ecosystems. Microorganisms living in desert soils include bacteria, algae, fungi, and lichens. Most research attention has focused on photosynthetic bacteria and algae, as well as nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These microbes provide a source of nutrients such as carbon sugar and ammonia nitrogen, respectively, to the entire community. However, the role of fungal species in these communities is still unknown. This work aims to increase understanding of desert microbial communities by determining the role of these fungal species, which is believed to include providing melanin for increased ultraviolet and stress resistance for the whole community. This research will help provide new knowledge that will make it possible to use these microbial communities to perform soil metal removal, increase agricultural soil nutrients, retain soil moisture in droughts, and prevent desertification of non-desert ecosystems.Biological soil crusts (or soil crusts) are microbial communities that form biofilms on the surface of nutrient-deplete desert soils. It is hypothesized that the microbes residing in the soil crust engage in transient interactions akin to that of a lichen symbiosis, to obtain nutrients and survive extreme abiotic stress. To investigate this hypothesis, novel microbial species isolated from a soil crust will be used to: 1) show that non-lichenized melanized fungi can establish mutualistic interactions with bacteria and algae; 2) observe how fungal melanin affects microbes from the soil crust, to determine if melanin can be considered a “public good” for abiotic resistances and used as a carbon source; and 3) identify metabolites produced and gene regulation differences during multi-species cultures to determine how these microbes interact. The fellow has additional goals to improve both representation and experience in undergraduate research by 1) recruiting undergraduate researchers from underrepresented groups and 2) developing a monthly basic lab techniques workshop to provide free lab experience to all undergraduates. Additional use of funds from this fellowship will be put towards increasing collaborations with fellow researchers in this field by developing a virtual conference.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.