Study of the role of microbial networks on carbon cycling under controlled pressure and temperature conditions

该项目将监测在压力和温度控制的环境中的碳循环，该环境由不同营养条件下的土壤和微生物组成。我们将根据微生物代谢途径和环境条件研究这些系统的进化，并追踪它们进化过程中碳的同位素差异。同时，我们将使用CO2-、CO-和CH4-传感器监测顶空中气体的演化。在这个项目中，候选人将研究和描述碳基气体的演变，以及随着系统的演变追踪同位素差异的营养物质。这项研究将在各种选定的微生物和不同的压力、温度和大气气体条件下进行，使用UOA的Space-Q环境舱1，并在其中控制压力、温度、相对湿度和辐射。可以创建环境。候选人将使用UOA的新陈代谢2系统监测不同营养状况下土壤和微生物的环境变量的演变，并将使用库马雷桑博士在昆士兰大学使用的最先进的稳定同位素探测后基因组测序来描述响应。该项目是阿伯丁大学(UOA)行星科学小组和贝尔法斯特女王大学(QUB)环境微生物学小组之间的一项新合作。该项目将使用由教授设计的Space-Q环境舱和新陈代谢装置。Zorzano和Martin-Torres以及库马雷桑2组中设计的排序、生态和进化方法。成功的候选人将在佐尔扎诺教授的主要监督下在南加州大学地球科学学院工作，但也将在库马雷桑博士的主要监督下在昆士兰大学生物科学学院呆上一段时间(每年访问2到3个月)。由于这是一个跨学科的项目，候选人将获得一系列备受欢迎的技能：(1)用于地球和空间应用的受控加压系统的实验设计；(2)最先进的环境条件的现场监测和模拟；(3)分子生态学工具(即能够进行稳定同位素探测的元基因组学/蛋白质组学)，以追踪微生物群落内的同位素，以确定代谢网络；(4)基因组分辨的元基因组学，以研究生态进化的适应；以及(5)合成群落和CRISPR中介的基因组工程战略，以研究微生物的相互作用。作为培训的一部分，学生将学习在Space-Q小室的受控加压系统下制备样品，由Zorzano教授和Martin-Torres教授在UOA开发生物地球化学模型，以及由Kumaresan博士学习QUB的环境分子生态学、微生物生理学、生物信息学和地球化学工具。

This project will monitor the carbon cycle in pressure- and temperature-controlled environments consisting of soil and microbes under different nutrient regimes. We will study the evolution of the systems depending on the microbial metabolic pathway and environmental conditions and will trace the isotopic differences of carbon during their evolution. In parallel, we will monitor the evolution of the gases in the head-space with CO2-, CO-, and CH4-sensors. In this project the candidate will study and characterize the evolution of carbon-base gases, and nutrients tracing isotopic differences as the systems evolve. The study will be performed for a variety of selected microorganisms and different pressure, temperature and atmospheric gas conditions, using the Space-Q environmental chamber1 at UoA, and where controlled pressure, temperature, relative humidity and radiation. environments can be created. The candidate will monitor the evolution of environmental variables of the soil and microbes under different nutrient regimes using the Metabolt2 system at UoA and will characterise the response using state of the art stable isotope probing enabled metagenomic sequencing used by Dr Kumaresan at QUB. This project represents a novel collaboration between the Planetary Sciences group in Aberdeen University (UoA), and the Environmental Microbiology group in Queen's University Belfast (QUB). The project will involve the use of the Space-Q environmental chamber and Metabolt device designed by Profs. Zorzano and Martin-Torres and the sequencing, ecological and evolutionary approaches designed in the Kumaresan's group2. The successful candidate will be based in the UoA School of Geosciences under the primary supervision of Prof Zorzano but will also spend time (a 2 or 3-months visit per year) in QUB School of Biological Sciences under the primary supervision of Dr Kumaresan3. As this is a cross-disciplinary project, the candidate will gain a repertoire of highly sought skills i: (i) the design of experiments in controlled pressurised systems for Earth and space applications; (ii) state-of-the-art in situ monitoring and modelling of environmental conditions; (iii) molecular ecology tools (i.e. stable isotope probing enabled metagenomics/proteomics) to track isotopes within the microbial communities to identify metabolic networks; (iv) genome-resolved metagenomics to study eco-evolutionary adaptations; and (v) synthetic communities and CRISPR-mediated genome engineering strategies to study microbial interactions. As part of the training, the student will learn to prepare of samples under controlled pressurised systems at the Space-Q chamber, the development of bio-geochemistry models at UoA by Prof. Zorzano and Prof. Martin-Torres, and environmental molecular ecology, microbial physiology, bioinformatics, and geochemistry tools at QUB by Dr Kumaresan.