Application for an Early-concept Grant for Exploratory Reasearch (EAGER) to develop a Pathway/Genome Database (PGDB) for the Southern Ocean Haptophyte Phaeocystis Antarctica.

南极洲的棕囊藻能够形成比南大洋浮游植物群落的任何其他成员更密集、更广泛的水华。目前尚不清楚南极洲能够主宰竞争对手的因素，但很可能与其殖民生活方式有关。该项目的目标是通过使用Path Tools软件开发路径/基因组数据库(PGDB)，绘制对确定南极洲棕囊藻生态位至关重要的代谢路径中的所有反应。研究人员将把蛋白质和酶分配给南极洲棕囊藻的关键途径，随着棕囊藻全基因组的上线，不断改进和编辑数据库，并将数据库托管在BioCyc的网页上。最终产品将是第一个真核浮游植物基因组数据库，研究人员可以在其中查询现有的代谢途径，并将新的感兴趣的蛋白质和酶放置在代谢网络中。风险在于，相当大比例的催化酶可能属于特征不佳的途径。科学的影响是在棕囊藻生活史的背景下将基因组与代谢潜力联系起来，但也将其与生命树上的其他生物进行比较。教育和外展包括与一名高中教师和实习生合作，以及课程开发。

Phaeocystis antarctica is capable of forming blooms that are denser and more extensive than any other member of the Southern Ocean phytoplankton community. The factors that enable P Antarctica to dominate its competitors are not clear but are likely related to its colonial lifestyle. The goal of the project is to map all the reactions in metabolic pathways that are key to defining the ecological niche of Phaeocystis antarctica by developing a Pathway/Genome Database (PGDB) using Pathway Tools software. The investigators will assign proteins and enzymes to key pathways in P. Antarctica, continually improve and edit the database as the full Phaeocystis genome comes online, and host the database on the BioCyc webpage. The end product will be the first database for a eukaryotic phytoplankton genome where researchers can query extant metabolic pathways and place new proteins and enzymes of interest within metabolic networks. The risk is that a substantial percentage of catalytic enzymes may belong to pathways that are poorly characterized. The science impact is to link genomes to metabolic potential in the context of Phaeocystis life history but also in comparison to other organisms across the tree of life. The education and outreach includes work with a high school teacher and intern and curriculum development.