Microbiome Hunter: Mobile Laboratory and high-throughput molecular analysis of soil microbiomes

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Belowground microbial communities are tightly linked to aboveground communities through trophic interactions, biogeochemical cycling and plant-soil feedbacks, and these interactions ultimately govern ecosystem functioning. This research program uses metagenomics and metatransciptomics approaches to study microbial communities in situ under field conditions. This grant will support the purchase of equipment required to undertake high-throughput sampling campaigns that can be used to study the soil microbiome at high temporal and special resolution, on a landscape-scale. This will include: a mobile trailer equipped for multi-day sampling with a workstation, water pump (for water sampling), freezer and power generator. In the lab, the quantity and quality of processed samples will be ameliorated with the addition of automated nucleic acid extraction and purification system, and a high capacity qPCR machine with 384 reaction wells. With the use of high-throughput technologies, the scope of environmental research in soil and water can be significantly expanded. By combining intense microbial analysis with ecological and geochemical measurements studies examining land use management and environmental change impacting soil biodiversity and hence soil ecosystem services will be possible. This integrated research approach is required in order to address critical societal issues involving soil microorganisms in agro-ecosystems such as soil health, primary productivity and the regulation of soil ecosystem services such as greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient cycling, source water quality and human health. The mobile laboratory and laboratory equipment will contribute to the research programs of over 15 HQP, students will be trained in both field and molecular microbiology techniques, making them highly employable in the field of environmental science and agriculture.