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

该项目将监测由土壤和微生物组成的压力和温度控制环境中不同营养制度下的碳循环。我们将根据微生物代谢途径和环境条件研究系统的演化，并将追踪其演化过程中碳的同位素差异。同时，我们将用CO2-、CO-和ch4传感器监测顶空气体的演变。在这个项目中，候选人将研究和描述碳基气体的演化，以及随着系统演化追踪同位素差异的营养物质。该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环境室1，并控制压力、温度、相对湿度和辐射。可以创建环境。该候选人将使用UoA的Metabolt2系统监测不同营养制度下土壤和微生物环境变量的演变，并将使用QUB的Kumaresan博士使用的最先进的稳定同位素探测元基因组测序来描述反应。该项目代表了阿伯丁大学行星科学小组（UoA）和贝尔法斯特女王大学环境微生物组（QUB）之间的新合作。该项目将涉及使用空间- q环境室和代谢装置由教授设计。Zorzano和Martin-Torres以及Kumaresan小组设计的测序、生态和进化方法2。成功的候选人将在UoA地球科学学院工作，在Zorzano教授的主要指导下，但也将在QUB生物科学学院工作（每年2或3个月的访问），在Kumaresan3博士的主要指导下。由于这是一个跨学科项目，候选人将获得一系列急需的技能：(i)在地球和空间应用的受控加压系统中设计实验；（ii）对环境状况进行最先进的现场监测和模拟；（iii）分子生态学工具（即支持稳定同位素探测的宏基因组学/蛋白质组学）跟踪微生物群落内的同位素，以确定代谢网络；（iv）基因组解析宏基因组学研究生态进化适应；(v)合成群落和crispr介导的基因组工程策略，以研究微生物相互作用。作为培训的一部分，学生将学习在空间- q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博士在QUB学习环境分子生态学、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.