RII Track-4: A Multi-omic Approach Towards an Understanding of the Environmental Implications of Antibiotics on Soil Processes

土壤微生物群落对地球上的生命至关重要，因为它们介导了许多与人类和环境健康相关的过程。然而，了解土壤微生物群落与这些过程之间的确切联系并不总是清楚的。在一个不断变化的世界中，获得这种理解特别重要。一个可能影响土壤微生物群落及其调节过程的变化是农业抗生素的投入。抗生素的过度使用一直是最近公众和科学关注的话题，因为它可能会增加环境微生物群落中的抗生素耐药性，并将耐药基因转移到病原体中。虽然这种强调对公共卫生很重要，但它忽视了抗生素可能对土壤微生物群落的影响。通过这项研究，PI将研究抗生素对土壤微生物群落的影响及其调节过程。这种理解将提高对土壤微生物群落对扰动的反应的理解，并最终使我们能够更好地了解这些群落在环境中所发挥的关键作用。此外，该奖学金将建立爱达荷州大学的研究能力，并改善对教师、研究人员以及研究生和本科生的培训。技术摘要抗生素的过度使用已成为最近公众和科学界关注的话题，因为它可能增加环境微生物群落中的抗生素耐药性，并将耐药基因转移给病原生物。虽然这种强调对公共卫生很重要，但它忽视了抗生素过度使用对土壤微生物群落的更广泛影响。鉴于每年可能有多达1400万公斤的抗生素通过牲畜粪便进入土壤，这可能对土壤微生物群落产生广泛影响。这一点尤其令人担忧，因为土壤微生物群落是陆地生态系统关键功能的核心。研究开始表明，抗生素输入可以改变微生物介导的生物地球化学循环，但导致这些改变的微生物群落的具体变化尚不清楚。该研究将通过多组学方法阐明微生物群落结构的具体变化。该方法包括多种形式的组学数据的集成（例如，宏基因组、转录组和代谢组），以更清楚地了解微生物群落结构对抗生素的反应以及随后对生态系统功能的影响。多组学技术的培训将与太平洋西北国家实验室（PNNL）合作进行。通过该奖学金，PNNL和爱达荷州大学之间的合作将得到加强，允许跨多个学科的多组学技术的应用，从传染病到兽医科学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

Non-Technical AbstractSoil microbial communities are vital to life on earth because they mediate many processes linked to human and environmental health. However, understanding the exact link between soil microbial communities and these processes is not always clear. Gaining this understanding is of particular importance in a changing world. One change likely to influence soil microbial communities, and the processes they regulate, are inputs of agricultural antibiotics. Overuse of antibiotics has been a topic of recent public and scientific concern because of its potential to increase antibiotic resistance in environmental microbial communities and transfer resistance genes to pathogenic organisms. While this emphasis is important to public health it overlooks the impact, antibiotics may have on soil microbial communities. Through this fellowship the PI will examine the effect of antibiotics on soil microbial communities and the processes that they regulate. This understanding will improve understanding of the response of soil microbial communities to perturbations and may ultimately enable us to better understand the critical role played by these communities in the environment. Furthermore, this fellowship will build research capacity at the University of Idaho and improve the training of faculty, research personnel, and graduate and undergraduate students.Technical AbstractThe overuse of antibiotics has been a topic of recent public and scientific concern because of its potential to increase antibiotic resistance in environmental microbial communities and transfer resistance genes to pathogenic organisms. While this emphasis is important for public health, it overlooks the broader impacts of antibiotic overuse on soil microbial communities. Given the potential that as much as 14 million kilograms of antibiotics could be entering soils annually through livestock manure, there could be widespread implications for soil microbial communities. This is especially concerning because soil microbial communities are central to the critical functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. Research is beginning to indicate that antibiotic inputs can alter microbial-mediated biogeochemical cycles, but the specific changes in the microbial community that lead to these alterations are unclear. The research will clarify the specific changes in microbial community structure via a multi-omic approach. This approach includes the integration of multiple forms of -omic data (e.g., metagenomes, transcriptomes, and metabolomes) to give a clearer picture of the response of microbial community structure to antibiotics and the ensuing impact on ecosystem function. Training in multi-omic techniques will occur in collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL). Through this fellowship, collaborations between PNNL and the University of Idaho will be strengthened allowing for the application of multi-omic techniques across multiple disciplines, from infectious disease to veterinary science.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.