LEXEN: Prokaryotes and Their Viruses in Thermal Soils: Diversity and Relationships in an Unexplored Habitat

摘要土壤具有异质性的化学和物理性质，是地球生物多样性的重要来源。在这项研究中，原核生物及其病毒的首次全面检查将在位于黄石国家公园的极热土壤（温度范围60-85℃）中进行。原核生物和它们的病毒有着千丝万缕的联系，理解它们在这种环境下的关系有助于我们对嗜热性和进化有一个新的认识。分子技术将研究热土壤原核生物及其病毒的系统发育关系，极端嗜热菌和病毒将使用传统的培养方法和利用生物膜反应器和土壤恒化器的流动特性的新方法进行分离。从这项研究中获得的信息将扩大我们对微生物世界中嗜热性分布的理解，并将对科学具有重要意义。从这项研究中获得的知识和资源预计将对生物技术产业具有重要价值。

Timothy McDermott 9809360Abstract Soils are a great source ofbiodiversity on earth due to its heterogeneous chemical and physical properties. In this study, the first comprehensive examination of prokaryotes and their viruses, will be perfomed in an extreme thermal soil (temperature range 60-85C) located in Yellowstone National Park. Prokaryotes and their viruses are inextricably tied and understanding their relationships in this environment promises a new view ofthermophily and evolution. Molecular techniques will examine phylogenetic relationships of thermal soil prokaryotes and their viruses, and extreme thermophiles and viruses will be isolated using traditional culturing methods and novel methods that take advantage of the flow-through properties of a bio~lm reactor and a soil chemostat. Information derived from this study will expand our understanding of the distribution of thermophily in the microbial world and will be of fundamental importance to science. The knowledge and resources gained from this study are predicted to be of significant value to the biotechnology industry.