CAREER: The Metabolic and Mutualistic Activities of Microbial Subsistence in Oligotrophic Cave Environments.

利用洞穴作为饥饿条件下微生物群落适应的模型，这项研究将整合生物、地质和化学科学的多种方法。在生物学领域，分子技术将被用来评估存在的群落的大小和结构、基因表达以及寄生虫，如细菌病毒，是否发挥了作用。利用替代的栽培技术，这项研究还旨在确定物种之间的互利互动是否是生存的重要因素。化学和材料科学的方法将解决饥饿的微生物物种如何以及为什么影响它们生长的表面的当地化学，而地质学的技术将使确定在饥饿条件下地球化学在多样性中扮演什么角色成为可能。总之，所获得的结果应该有助于我们理解微生物群落在极端饥饿中生存的相互作用和过程。在更广泛的背景下，这项研究将解决微生物生态学中的一个突出问题：为什么环境中的大多数微生物物种是不可培养的？自然界中的大多数微生物物种都生活在极端饥饿的条件下，在这种条件下，它们可能需要与其他细胞相互作用才能生存。这种相互作用可能会限制许多微生物在传统的实验室培养基中的生长。如果是这样的话，从这个项目中学到的知识可以显著增加可以在实验室条件下培养的细菌种类的数量和类型。这些物种的分离不仅有助于我们对环境中微生物活动的了解，而且为生物技术和制药行业提供了重要的物种特征。所描述的研究将在一个主要是本科生的研究实验室进行。通过让本科生参与这项高级研究，他们发展了实用和批判性思维技能，更有效地管理时间，并增强了交流科学的能力。研究和科学技术也将直接融入课程，让大量学生参与研究方法和数据管理的设计和实施，同时实践研究积极增强教育体验。

Using caves as a model for microbial community adaptation under starved conditions, the research will integrate a number of methods from the biological, geological and chemical sciences. Within biology, molecular techniques will be used to asses the size and structure of the communities present, the genes expressed and whether parasites, such as bacterial viruses, play a role. Using alternative techniques for cultivation, the research also aims to determine whether mutually beneficial interactions between species are important factors for survival. Methods from chemistry and materials science will address how and why starved microbial species affect the local chemistry of the surfaces on which they grow, while techniques in geology will make it possible to determine what role geochemistry plays in diversity under starvation. Together, the results obtained should significantly contribute to our understanding of the interactions and processes microbial communities use to survive extreme starvation.In a broader context, this research will address one of the outstanding questions in microbial ecology; why are the majority of microbial species in the environment non-culturable? Most microbial species in nature are living under conditions of extreme starvation, in which they may rely on mutualistic interactions with other cells in order to survive. Such interactions might limit the growth of many microbes in tradtional laboratory culture media. If this is the case, knowledge learned from this project could significantly increase the number and type of bacterial species that can be grown under laboratory conditions. The isolation of such species could greatly benefit not just our understanding of microbial activity in the environment, but provide species with important traits for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The research described will be carried out in a primarily undergraduate research laboratory. By involving undergraduate students in this advanced research, they develop practical and critical thinking skills, more effective time management and an increased ability to communicate their science. The research and scientific techniques will also be integrated directly into the curricula, allowing a large number of students to be involved in the design and implementation of research methods and data management, while hands on research actively enhances the educational experience.