Ecology of aquatic viruses in the Arctic

北极水生病毒的生态学

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-04212
• 负责人: Culley, Alexander
• 金额: $ 3.35万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2015-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=587670
• 关键词: Ecology; aquatic; viruses; Arctic

The average global temperature has steadily risen over the past 100 years, with some of the greatest increases occurring in the Arctic. This is of particular concern because it has resulted in a substantial reduction in the amount and quality of ice in the region. The consequences of this are dramatic, affecting everything from sea level and oceanic circulation to international trade and the customs of aboriginal peoples. A critical aspect to predicting the breadth and magnitude of the impact of climate change in the Arctic is elucidating how the organisms endemic to this region are being affected. As in the majority of ecosystems on Earth, the most abundant and diverse groups of biological entities in the Arctic are the protists, prokaryotes and viruses that comprise the microbial community. Microbes play a critical role in the cycling of nutrients and energy, and therefore understanding the dynamics and interactions of this group is vital to understanding the ecology of the Arctic ecosystem as a whole. The viruses are an important, but remarkably understudied, component of the Arctic ecosystem. Viruses influence the community dynamics and evolution of their microbial hosts, and ultimately the productivity of the entire biota. The overarching objective of this research is to characterize the diversity and dynamics of viruses that infect microbes and determine how microbial ecology is affected by the rapid and evolving changes in the Arctic environment. Towards this end, I propose to work in the lakes and coastal marine environment of the Canadian High Arctic, a region that has experienced a dramatic loss of ice cover in the past decades. The short-term objectives of this research are to isolate viruses that infect microbial hosts of ecological importance and characterize the virus community using molecular methods over space and time. This study will provide a comprehensive assessment of the dynamics of a seriously understudied group of biological entities that are likely to have a significant influence on the structure and function of the Arctic food web. These data will greatly expand the known range of genomic diversity among viruses, and will provide new insights into their evolution, ecology, and biology in a region of global significance. This project will also support the training and education of students and scientists, outreach activities with northern communities, and our findings will be disseminated as widely as possible through publications, conferences, public forums and the media.

过去100年来，全球平均气温稳步上升，其中北极地区的气温上升幅度最大。这一点特别令人关切，因为它已导致该区域冰的数量和质量大幅度减少。其后果是巨大的，影响到从海平面和海洋环流到国际贸易和土著人民的习俗的一切。预测北极气候变化影响的广度和规模的一个关键方面是阐明该地区特有的生物如何受到影响。与地球上大多数生态系统一样，北极最丰富多样的生物实体群体是构成微生物群落的原生生物、原核生物和病毒。微生物在营养物质和能量的循环中发挥着关键作用，因此了解这一群体的动态和相互作用对于了解整个北极生态系统的生态至关重要。这些病毒是北极生态系统的一个重要组成部分，但显然研究不足。病毒会影响其微生物宿主的群落动态和进化，并最终影响整个生物群的生产力。这项研究的总体目标是表征感染微生物的病毒的多样性和动态，并确定微生物生态如何受到北极环境快速和不断变化的影响。为此，我提议在加拿大高北极地区的湖泊和沿海海洋环境中开展工作，该地区在过去几十年中经历了冰盖的急剧丧失。本研究的短期目标是分离感染具有生态重要性的微生物宿主的病毒，并在空间和时间上使用分子方法表征病毒群落。这项研究将全面评估一组研究严重不足的生物实体的动态，这些生物实体可能对北极食物网的结构和功能产生重大影响。这些数据将极大地扩展病毒基因组多样性的已知范围，并将为全球重要区域的进化，生态学和生物学提供新的见解。该项目还将支持学生和科学家的培训和教育，支持与北方社区的外联活动，并将通过出版物、会议、公共论坛和媒体尽可能广泛地传播我们的调查结果。