Collaborative Research: RUI: Extracellular vesicles as vehicles for microbial interactions in marine Black Queen communities

海洋中微生物群落的功能和稳定性取决于单个细胞之间的生物产品和服务的交换。海洋微生物通常彼此相距很远，所以一些交换是通过将产品或服务释放到周围的水中来发生的，在那里它们通过简单的扩散传播到其他细胞。了解一种生物产生的如此有价值的产品在多大程度上针对特定的伙伴，以及如何针对，对我们理解海洋微生物群的生态学和进化具有重要意义。该项目研究了一种鲜为人知的非常小的颗粒-胞外膜囊泡-在海洋中介导功能相互作用中所起的作用。细胞外囊泡由大多数海洋微生物释放，在海水中大量存在，但我们对其功能的了解仍处于起步阶段。由于囊泡可以容纳包括活性酶在内的多种分子，并在细胞之间运输这些分子，它们可以作为在生态上重要的微生物之间交易的商品和服务的包装和递送系统。该项目的更广泛影响包括为本科生和研究生提供实践研究经验——包括那些在STEM领域历史上代表性不足的群体——以及开发新的主动学习练习，以帮助增加对微生物在学生生活中所扮演角色的了解。本项目通过结合组学分析、野外实验和多种生态重要微生物培养的功能研究，探索囊泡在多个尺度上的功能，以达到对囊泡在细胞交换中的贡献的新理解。这些实验结合了进化的视角来探索囊泡的功能范围和影响其产生的遗传机制，研究了在浮游植物和异养细菌共培养中，经过数百代的实验进化，它们的内容是如何变化的。基本的生态问题涉及到囊泡及其相关功能是否在海洋中充当真正的“公共产品”，或者可以针对一部分细胞，可能产生定义相互作用，合作网络的“俱乐部产品”。总的来说，这项工作将对海洋微生物相互作用的机制产生新的见解，并通过实验确定海洋中电动汽车介导的贩运网络的功能潜力和生态影响。该项目由生物海洋学计划和促进竞争性研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）共同资助。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。

The function and stability of microbial communities in the ocean depends on exchanges of biological products and services between individual cells. Marine microbes are typically far apart from one another, so some of these exchanges occur through the release of products or services into the surrounding water, where they travel to other cells via simple diffusion. Understanding the degree to which such valuable products made by one organism are targeted to a specific partner, and how, has important implications for our understanding of the ecology and evolution of the marine microbiome. This project examines the role played by a poorly understood type of very small particle – extracellular membrane vesicles – in mediating functional interactions within the oceans. Extracellular vesicles are released by most marine microbes and are abundant in ocean waters, but our understanding of their functions remains in its infancy. As vesicles can contain diverse molecules, including active enzymes, and transport them between cells, they may work as a packaging and delivery system for goods and services traded between ecologically important microorganisms. Broader impacts of the project include providing hands-on research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students - including those from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields - and the development of new active learning exercises to help increase knowledge about the roles microbes play in students’ lives.This project explores vesicle functions across multiple scales, combining -omics analyses, field experiments, and functional studies in cultures of diverse and ecologically important microbes to arrive at new understandings of vesicle contributions to cellular exchanges. These experiments incorporate an evolutionary perspective for exploring the range of vesicle functions and genetic mechanisms affecting their production, examining how their contents have changed in co-cultures of phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria following hundreds of generations of experimental laboratory evolution. Fundamental ecological questions are addressed concerning whether vesicles, and their associated functions, act as truly ‘public goods’ in the oceans or can instead be targeted to a subset of cells, possibly yielding ‘club goods’ that define interacting, cooperative networks. Collectively, this effort will generate new insights into the mechanisms marine microbes use to interact with one another, and experimentally define the functional potential and ecological impact of EV-mediated trafficking networks in the oceans. This project is jointly funded by the Biological Oceanography Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).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.