Collaborative Research: Experimental calibration of the isotopic content of marine sulfate

合作研究：海洋硫酸盐同位素含量的实验校准Alexander Bradley ID：1536559硫是生命的基本元素，其地球化学循环对广泛的科学学科感兴趣。理解硫循环的要求涉及揭示和量化微生物氧化和还原硫物质的机制。这可以通过追踪稳定的硫和氧同位素来实现。酶在硫的循环中起着关键作用，但个别酶优先使用特定氧同位素（分馏）的程度尚不清楚，这阻碍了对海洋硫酸盐中观察到的氧同位素模式的完全理解。本项目将研究与两种关键酶相关的同位素分馏（氧和硫），这两种酶参与硫酸盐还原微生物和一些硫氧化微生物的代谢。解决这些酶对海洋硫酸盐同位素组成的影响，对稳定同位素地球化学和化学海洋学具有重要意义。该项目将作为教育和培训博士后研究人员和本科生的工具，并将在研究人员的实验室提供教师培训机会，以帮助教师设计学生实地考察和学生动手练习。硫在氧化态和还原态之间的循环是海洋和底层沉积物中有机物氧化的主要决定因素，微生物在硫的地球化学循环中起着关键作用。微生物硫循环的关键示踪剂之一涉及测量硫相之间的稳定同位素分布。许多研究表明，硫酸盐的稳定氧同位素组成是研究硫循环的一种有用方法。尽管硫酸盐具有实用性，但生物学如何影响硫酸盐的氧同位素几乎没有直接的限制。本项目的目标是对与微生物硫酸盐还原相关的酶氧同位素分馏进行定量限制。该项目将涉及与ATP硫酸化酶和APS还原酶相关的动力学同位素分馏的体外研究，并将所得数据纳入现有模型，以了解硫酸盐还原过程中的同位素分馏及其对海洋硫酸盐同位素组成的影响。这些模型将提供关键洞察硫循环的行为和演变的海洋化学在关键的时间尺度。

Collaborative Research: Experimental Calibration of the Isotopic Content of Marine SulfateAlexander BradleyID: 1536559Sulfur is an essential element to life, and its biogeochemical cycle is of interest to a broad range of scientific disciplines. A requirement for understanding the sulfur cycle involves revealing and quantifying the mechanisms by which microbes oxidize and reduce sulfur species. This can be done by tracing stable sulfur and oxygen isotopes. Enzymes play a key role in the cycling of sulfur, but the degree to which individual enzymes preferentially use specific oxygen isotopes (fractionation) is not known and prevents complete understanding of observed oxygen isotopes patterns in marine sulfate. This project will investigate isotope fractionation (oxygen and sulfur) associated with two key enzymes, which are involved in the metabolism of both sulfate reducing microbes and some sulfur oxidizing microbes. Resolving the influence of these enzymes on the isotopic composition of marine sulfate is important to stable isotope biogeochemistry and chemical oceanography. The project will serve as a vehicle to educate and train a postdoctoral researcher and undergraduate students, and will provide a teacher training opportunity in the investigators' labs to aid teachers in the design of student field trips and hands-on exercises for their students.The cycling of sulfur between its oxidized and reduced forms is a major determinant of the oxidation of organic matter in the oceans and underlying sediments, and microbes play a key role in the biogeochemical cycling of sulfur. One of the key tracers of microbial sulfur cycling involves measuring the distribution of stable isotopes among sulfur phases. A number of studies have shown that the stable oxygen isotope composition of sulfate is an informative way to investigate the sulfur cycle. Despite its utility, there are few direct constraints on how biology impacts the oxygen isotopes of sulfate. The goal of this project is to place quantitative constraints on the enzymatic oxygen isotope fractionation associated with microbial sulfate reduction. This project will involve in vitro investigations of the kinetic isotope fractionations associated with ATP sulfurylase and APS reductase, and incorporate the resulting data into an existing model for understanding isotope fractionation during sulfate reduction and its resulting influence on the isotopic composition of marine sulfate. These models will provide critical insight into the behavior of the sulfur cycle and evolution of marine chemistry over key timescales.