CAREER: Linking Microbial Phylogenetic and Functional Gene Diversity to Microbial Mat Ecosystem Function Following Environmental Disturbance

生态系统是通过许多非生物和生物因素的相互作用产生和维持的极其复杂的实体。虽然许多生态系统的特征是基于整体生态系统功能，但由于技术和概念上的挑战，微生物的作用往往被忽视或过于简单化。这种过度简化导致生态模型不能准确地说明环境变化期间生物多样性对生态系统功能的影响。鉴于全球微生物组是地球上最大的生物库，并构成所有生态系统的基础，因此更好地了解环境因素如何引发微生物群落结构和功能的变化以及这些变化如何影响整体生态系统功能至关重要。为了解决这一知识差距，该项目将利用高通量宏基因组和元转录组DNA测序的技术发展，在环境扰动后的时间尺度上研究泻湖生态系统中的微生物。本研究的目的是了解环境线索，触发分类转变（例如，从稀有到显性），检查功能冗余内稀有和丰富的类群，并探讨社区基因表达和分类水平的性状和整体生态系统功能之间的联系。这项研究的结果将有助于通过定义微生物分类和功能基因多样性，环境因素和生态系统过程速率之间的联系来完善生态系统模型。此外，通过了解微生物多样性在泻湖微生物垫群落恢复力中的作用，拟议研究的结果可能对生态系统科学和进化生物学产生变革性影响。作为将尖端科学融入教育的一种手段，将制定一个强大的大学、社区和国际水平的推广计划，以：（1）通过开发新的分子微生物生态学课程来加强研究生教育;（2）加强本科生、研究生和博士后的实验室和实地经验;（3）通过扩大以前NSF支持的青年基因组科学家计划，为当地高中学生和教师提供实验室和实地经验;（4）在全国知名的EdVenture Children？博物馆（每年200 000名游客）;（5）提高巴哈马儿童和科学教师的生态系统意识。

Ecosystems are extremely complex entities generated and maintained through the interactions of numerous abiotic and biotic factors. While many ecosystems have been characterized based on overall ecosystem function, the role of microorganisms is often overlooked or oversimplified due to technical and conceptual challenges. This oversimplification has resulted in ecological models that do not accurately account for the impacts of biodiversity on ecosystem function during periods of environmental change. Given that the global microbiome is the largest biological reservoir on Earth and forms the foundation of all ecosystems, it is critically important to better understand how environmental factors trigger changes in microbial community structure and function and how these changes impact overall ecosystem function. To address this knowledge gap, this project will utilize technological developments in high throughput metagenomic and metatranscriptomic DNA sequencing to examine microbes in a lagoon ecosystem over temporal scales following environmental perturbations. The objectives of this study are to understand the environmental cues that trigger taxonomic shifts (e.g. from rare to dominant), to examine the functional redundancy within rare and abundant taxa, and to explore the link between community gene expression and taxon-level traits and overall ecosystem function. Results from this study will help refine ecosystem models by defining the links between microbial taxonomic and functional gene diversity, environmental factors, and rates of ecosystem processes. Furthermore, by understanding the role of microbial diversity in the resilience of microbial mat communities in the lagoons, results from the proposed studies may have a transformative impact on ecosystem science and evolutionary biology. As a means of integrating cutting edge science into education, a strong university, community, and international-level outreach program will be developed to: (1) enhance graduate education by developing a new molecular microbial ecology course; (2) enhance undergraduate, graduate, and postdoc laboratory and field experiences; (3) provide local high school students and teachers with lab and field-based experiences by the expansion of a previous NSF-supported Young Genomic Scientists Program; (4) enhance environmental awareness of the general public by generating a microbial mat exhibit to be displayed at the nationally-renowned EdVenture Children?s Museum (200,000 visitors per year); and (5) enhance ecosystem awareness of Bahamian children and science teachers.