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

研究员姓名：Erin carr提案号：2209217研究题目：共生作为生物土壤结皮微生物的生存手段赞助科学家和主办机构：Steven Harris，爱荷华州立大学；该行动为2021财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，“综合研究调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则”。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。该项目旨在了解在沙漠土壤中生长的微生物如何利用化学相互作用获得重要的营养物质，并承受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。大多数研究的注意力集中在光合细菌和藻类，以及固氮细菌上。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的来源。然而，真菌物种在这些群落中的作用仍然未知。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，这些真菌物种被认为包括为整个群落提供黑色素以增强紫外线和抗逆性。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（或土壤结皮）是在养分枯竭的荒漠土壤表面形成生物膜的微生物群落。据推测，居住在土壤外壳中的微生物参与了类似于地衣共生的短暂相互作用，以获取营养并在极端的非生物胁迫下生存。为了验证这一假设，我们将利用从土壤结皮中分离出的新微生物物种：1)证明非地衣化的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非生物抗性的“公共产品”并用作碳源；3)确定多物种培养过程中产生的代谢物和基因调控差异，以确定这些微生物如何相互作用。该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募本科生研究人员；2)每月举办一次基本实验室技术研讨会，为所有本科生提供免费的实验室经验。该研究金的额外资金将用于通过开发虚拟会议来增加与该领域研究人员的合作。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。

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.