Production of Iron-Complexing Compounds by Marine Particle-Associated Bacteria

9633408海古德铁的可用性被认为对海洋环境的生产力有重要影响。人们对海洋中铁的化学性质仍然知之甚少，但一个逐渐形成的共识是，铁在很大程度上与海水中的有机化合物络合，从而影响了铁的化学行为，以及它对生物的可用性。许多细菌，包括一些海洋物种，都能产生铁载体，这是一种结合铁的化合物。这些铁载体可能有助于海水中的铁络合。研究人员将研究与颗粒相关的海洋细菌产生的铁载体。本研究旨在确定铁载体是否参与海水中的铁络合，以及什么环境条件控制它们的产生。选定的海洋细菌生产铁载体将在实验室使用生化、分子和免疫学技术进行研究。了解调节铁载体产生的因素将有助于预测它们在海洋环境中的发生，并将使人们更好地了解铁及其对海洋生产力和群落结构的影响。这一信息对铁在海水中的行为的化学建模将立即有用。这些研究将在海水中有机铁配体的研究与细菌在影响海洋中浮游植物和细菌对铁的可利用性方面的作用之间提供关键联系。

9633408 Haygood Iron availability is believed to have an important influence on the productivity of marine environments. The chemistry of iron in the ocean is still poorly understood, but there is an emerging consensus that iron is largely complexed by organic compounds in seawater, thus affecting the chemical behavior of iron, as well as its availability to organisms. Many bacteria, including some marine species, are known to produce siderophores, compounds which bind iron. Such siderophores may contribute to iron complexation in seawater. The investigators will study siderophore production by marine bacteria associated with particles. This study seeks to determine whether siderophores participate in iron complexation in seawater, and what environmental conditions control their production. Siderophore production by selected marine bacteria will be studied in the laboratory using biochemical, molecular, and immunological techniques. Knowledge of the factors regulating siderophore production will be useful in predicting their occurrence in the marine environment and will lead to a better understanding of iron and its influence on productivity and community structure in the ocean. This information will be immediately useful in chemical modeling of the behavior of iron in seawater. These studies will provide a key link between studies of the organic iron ligands in seawater, and the role of bacteria in influencing the availability of iron to phytoplankton and bacteria in the ocean.