Photoheterotrophic Microbes in the West Antarctic Peninsula Marine Ecosystem

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。随着冰层覆盖率和厚度的减少，极地生态系统的光质量和可用性可能会发生变化。 微生物如何适应这些和其他变化将对极地海洋生态系统产生巨大影响。关于光合异养原核生物知之甚少，假设它们除了利用溶解有机物（DOM）外，还通过收获光能来获得代谢优势。 光合异养不包括在当前的碳循环和能量流动模型。本研究将探讨三个问题：1. 冬季和夏季南极沃茨中是否存在并活跃着光合异养微生物？ 2. 光合异养生物的群落结构在夏季和冬季之间会发生变化吗？3. 哪些微生物群体在光照下比在黑暗中吸收更多的DOM？ 该研究将测试有关冬季和夏季光合异养生物活动的假设，光照和黑暗季节之间群落结构的变化以及光合异养生物对南极地球化学过程的潜在独特影响。 该项目将直接支持研究生，将积极影响海洋和地球研究学院的NSF REU计划，并将包括来自全国的学生？历史上最古老的少数民族学院。 调查结果将在刘易斯设施的每周图尔斯之旅（每年约1000名游客）和海岸日（每年吸引约10,000名游客的开放日）期间展出。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Light quality and availability are likely to change in polar ecosystems as ice coverage and thickness decrease. How microbes adjust to these and other changes will have huge impacts on the polar marine ecosystems. Little is known about photoheterotrophic prokaryotes, which are hypothesized to gain a metabolic advantage by harvesting light energy in addition to utilizing dissolved organic matter (DOM). Photoheterotrophy is not included in current models of carbon cycling and energy flow. This research will examine three questions: 1. Are photoheterotrophic microbes present and active in Antarctic waters in winter and summer? 2. Does community structure of photoheterotrophs shift between summer and winter? 3. Which microbial groups assimilate more DOM in light than in the dark? The research will test hypotheses about activity of photoheterotrophs in winter and in summer, shifts in community structure between light and dark seasons and the potentially unique impacts of photoheterotrophs on biogeochemical processes in the Antarctic. The project will directly support a graduate student, will positively impact the NSF REU program at the College of Marine and Earth Studies, and will include students from the nation?s oldest historical minority college. The results will be featured during weekly tours of Lewes facilities (about 1000 visitors per year) and during Coast Day, an annual open-house that attracts about 10,000 visitors.