Prokaryotes-phage interactions in engineered bioreactors-a new paradigm in system microbial ecology.

生物反应器可以去除废水中的污染物，同时提供生物燃料等有价值的产品。生物反应器的功能依赖于一个合适的细菌群落结构来有效地转化废物。然而，细菌群落可能会受到进入的废物流中存在的细菌的影响。生物反应器细菌群落受到影响的另一种鲜为人知的方式是噬菌体的存在，即只感染细菌的病毒。虽然已知噬菌体影响海洋环境中的细菌种群，但对工程生物反应器中细菌与噬菌体的相互作用知之甚少。这项拟议的研究将基于细菌-噬菌体相互作用的基础科学，评估噬菌体生命周期对生物反应器细菌群落的作用。这项研究还将阐明噬菌体是否参与了细菌群落的基因转移。这项研究的结果将有助于确定从废水中去除氮、碳和污染物的机制，以保护生态和人类健康，同时生产有价值的产品，如生物燃料，以增强国家的能源安全。该项目的总体目标是研究从活性污泥工艺(ASP)和厌氧消化池中感染关键细菌的病毒的基因组含量和实验室规模的反应器和厌氧消化池中的微生物群落。人们提出了三个广泛的问题：(1)在有机废物无价厌氧生物过程中，感染关键ASP细菌和微生物的病毒群落的基因组含量和多样性是什么？(2)噬菌体基因组含量是如何随着工艺配置的变化而变化的，以及在工艺颠覆过程中噬菌体的作用是什么？(3)存在于ASP生物反应器和厌氧消化器中的噬菌体是否有助于不同原核生物之间的基因转移？三套实验室规模的反应堆将用于模拟废水社区中常用的处理方案。这些反应器将受到各种外部扰动和干扰，以研究这些反应器中噬菌体的动力学。对细菌和噬菌体DNA进行高通量测序，然后进行基因组提取，将使在工程生物反应器中研究细菌与噬菌体的相互作用成为可能。总体而言，这个项目将回答与工程生物反应器中的噬菌体相关的几个基本问题，并增加废水处理的科学。在这项研究中获得的基本知识将适用于其他自然和工程系统本研究项目将有助于研究生和本科教育，美国研究生将学习与生态系统研究和病毒学相关的新技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Bioreactors can remove contaminants from wastewater while providing valuable products such as biofuels. Bioreactor function relies on an appropriate bacterial community structure for efficient conversion of waste. However, the bacterial community can be affected by bacteria present in the incoming waste stream. A less known way that the bioreactor bacterial community can be affected is by the presence of bacteriophage, viruses that only infect bacteria. Although phages are known to affect bacterial populations in marine environments, very little is known about bacteria-phage interactions in engineered bioreactors. The proposed research will evaluate the role of bacteriophage life-cycle on bioreactor bacterial communities based on the basic science of bacteria-phage interactions. This research will also shed light on whether phages participate in gene transfer with the bacterial communities. Results from this research will help define mechanisms for the removal of nitrogen, carbon, and pollutants from waste streams to protect ecological and human health, while producing valuable products like biofuels to enhance the Nation's energy security.The overarching goal of this project is to study the genomic content of viruses infecting key bacteria from activated sludge processes (ASP) and anaerobic digester microbial communities in lab-scale reactors and anaerobic digesters. Three broad questions have been proposed: (1) What is the genomic content and diversity of viral communities infecting key ASP bacteria and microbiomes in organic waste valorization anaerobic bioprocesses?; (2) How does phage genomic content change with process configuration, and what is the role of phages during process upsets?; and (3) Are the bacteriophages present in ASP bioreactors and anaerobic digesters contributing to gene transfers between different prokaryotes? Three sets of lab scale reactors will be used to simulate commonly used treatment scenarios in the wastewater community. These reactors will be subjected to various external perturbations and disturbances to study bacteriophages dynamics in these reactors. High throughput sequencing of bacterial and phage DNA, followed by a genome extraction exercise, will allow the study of bacterial-phage interactions in engineered bioreactors. Overall, this project will answer several fundamental questions related to phages in engineered bioreactors and add to the science of wastewater treatment. The fundamental knowledge gained in this research will be applicable in other natural and engineered systems This research project will contribute to graduate and undergraduate education, and U.S graduate students will learn new techniques related to ecosystem research and virology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.