Toward Comprehending Prokaryotic Species Using Halorubrum sp. as a Model

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。细菌物种在进化和分类学意义上都知之甚少。 最近，通过DNA测序的发展，盐红菌属已经成为一个很好的模型，用于测试细菌物种形成的性质的假设。 Halorubrum物种提供了一个创新的平台，可以比较细胞形状和糖利用率以及DNA序列等特征之间的变化，以更好地了解细菌物种内部和之间的变化。 利用这些微生物，我们将提出这样的问题：DNA定义的物种和生理特征之间是否存在相关性？生理性状是否能预测种群结构？ 不同的栖息地可以预测的DNA定义的物种？我们能用同样的技术定义其他物种吗？ 这些问题的答案将大大有助于解决细菌物种问题。这个项目是国际性的，跨学科的。 来自美国和欧洲的研究人员将培训分类学家和种群遗传学家跨学科交流。 此外，这项工作有可能影响其他学科，如微生物生态学，在其最基本的水平需要一个可用的和可靠的物种概念。 最终，我们对细菌分类能力的提高可能有助于研究人员和技术人员识别对人类和/或农作物和牲畜有害的细菌。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Bacterial species are poorly understood both in an evolutionary and taxonomic sense. Recently, through developments in DNA sequencing, the genus Halorubrum has emerged as an excellent model for testing hypotheses regarding the nature of bacterial speciation. Halorubrum species provide an innovative platform to compare modifications between characteristics like cell shape and sugar utilization and DNA sequences to better understand variation in and between bacterial species. Using these microbes, we will ask questions like: Is there a correlation between DNA defined species and physiological traits? Do physiological traits provide predictive power regarding population structure? Can distinct habitats be predicted for DNA defined species? Can we define additional species using the same techniques? Answers to these questions will go a long way towards developing solutions to the bacterial species problem.This project is international and interdisciplinary in its scope. Researchers from the U.S. and Europe will train taxonomists and population geneticists to communicate across disciplinary boundaries. Furthermore, this work has the potential to impact other disciplines like microbial ecology, which at its most fundamental level requires a usable and reliable species concept. Ultimately, improvements in our ability to classify bacteria may help researchers and technicians identify bacteria harmful to humans and or their agricultural crops and herds.