An autonomous submersible profiling and incubation system to investigate in-situ microbial activity and function in low oxygen waters

由于温度上升、海洋酸化和海洋内部溶解氧减少（海洋脱氧），海洋生态系统正面临越来越大的压力。这些压力源将引起全球物理、化学和生物环境的重大变化，最终影响海洋的生物地球化学循环和代谢。******最佳的溶解氧浓度对大多数海洋生态系统的正常运作至关重要。模型预测，下个世纪全球海洋氧气储量将下降1-7%，而所谓的氧气最小带（OMZs）的缺氧区域将在时空上增加。今天，这些海洋保护区占全球海洋的8%，并且已经在不同地区扩大，主要是由于气温上升和农场和城市废物径流增加。事实上，一些沿海地区经常经历极端的臭氧饥饿事件，产生“死区”，摧毁海洋渔业并改变食物网结构。******为了预测进一步的海洋脱氧将如何改变海洋代谢和改变营养和能量循环，我们需要了解臭氧缺乏地区微生物代谢的功能和调节。先进的组学技术使我们能够阐明微生物功能与环境条件之间的联系，并彻底改变了我们对海洋生态和元素循环的理解。然而，全球生物地球化学模型仍然缺乏将海洋微生物及其多种代谢潜力（来自组学数据）与海洋生物地球化学时空梯度联系起来的许多基本过程的速率。******在此，我们请求基础设施资助，用于开发和建造自主潜水剖析和孵化系统，以研究臭氧匮乏地区的原位微生物活动和功能。该系统是同类系统中的第一个，它将使我们能够a)收集微生物组学研究的样本，以及溶解和颗粒微量金属和营养分析，b)在最小扰动和高时空分辨率的情况下确定原位深度的真实代谢率。******该系统将能够更准确地描述当前和未来海洋生态系统的结构和功能，以及海洋脱氧的后果，包括其对全球变暖的影响（通过二氧化碳、甲烷和一氧化二氮等温室气体的生产和消耗）、渔业生产和海洋生物多样性。我们还将为年轻的海洋学家提供最新的、标准化的采样和处理组学、生理和生物地球化学样品方法的培训。这种联合抽样方法？包括生理学、组学和生物地球化学？在快速变化的海洋中，是否需要采用整体方法来识别基于群落或基因的生物标志物，以监测和预测生态系统功能和生物地球化学循环

Marine ecosystems are becoming increasingly stressed by rising temperatures, ocean acidification and the decline in dissolved O2 in the ocean interior (ocean deoxygenation). These stressors will cause substantial global changes in the physical, chemical and biological environment, ultimately affecting the ocean's biogeochemical cycles and metabolism.******Optimal dissolved O2 concentrations are critical for the proper functioning of most marine ecosystems. Models predict a decline of 1-7% in the global ocean O2 inventory over the next century, and a spatial and temporal increase in O2 starved regions, the so-called O2 minimum zones (OMZs). These OMZs comprise 8% of the global ocean today, and have already expanded in various regions, mainly due to rising temperatures and increased waste run-off from our farms and cities. Indeed, some coastal areas experience extreme O2-starvation events regularly, producing “dead zones” that decimate marine fisheries and alter food web structures. ******To predict how further ocean deoxygenation will change ocean metabolism and alter nutrient and energy cycles, we need to understand the functioning and regulation of microbial metabolisms in O2-starved regions. Advanced omic technologies have allowed us to elucidate links between microbial functioning and environmental conditions, and have revolutionized our understanding of marine ecology and elemental cycling. However, global biogeochemical models still lack the rates of many fundamental processes that link marine microbes and their diverse metabolic potential (from omic' data) with oceanic biogeochemical gradients over space and time. ******Here we request infrastructure funding for developing and building an autonomous submersible profiling and incubation system to investigate in-situ microbial activity and function in O2-starved regions. This system is the first of its kind, and will allow us to a) collect samples for microbial omics studies, and for dissolved and particulate trace metal and nutrient analyses, and b) determine authentic metabolic rates at in-situ depths, with minimal perturbation and high temporal and spatial resolution.******This system will enable more accurate depictions of the structure and functioning of present and future OMZs ecosystems, as well as of the ramifications of ocean deoxygenation, including its effect on global warming (via the production and consumption of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide), fisheries production and marine biodiversity. We will also provide training on state-of-the-art, standardized methodologies for sampling and processing of omic, physiological and biogeochemical samples for young oceanographers. This combined sampling approach?which includes physiology, omics, and biogeochemistry?is the holistic approach needed to identify community- or gene-based biomarkers to monitor and predict ecosystem function and biogeochemical cycles in a rapidly changing ocean.**