NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Understanding protein synthesis in energetically constrained microbial consortia

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。了解地球气候如何对碳水平的通量做出反应，对于预测结果至关重要，这些结果有助于我们在个人和社区层面上如何与环境互动。导致气候变化的含碳分子之一是甲烷，这是一种强有力的“温室气体”。甲烷的一个主要来源是深海海底，尽管大多数甲烷不会到达海洋表面，因为它被某些微生物(古生代，一个独特的生命领域)作为能源消耗。为了完成这项任务，这些古生菌与细菌生活在一起，分享能量产量。目前，关于哪些细胞成分促进了这些微生物群落之间的相互作用，以及这些成分的生产是如何受到调控的，人们知之甚少。在这个项目中，将使用一种跨学科的方法来确定深海微生物用来感知环境和相互作用的机制。通过对控制海洋碳通量的微生物的研究，将有可能建立更好的模型来预测全球气候动态变化的潜在反馈。该研究员还将努力加强主办机构与当地社区学院之间的关系，这将为学生提供更多接触大学一级研究的机会。通过分子生物学、生物地球化学和微生物生态学的交叉，这位研究员将帮助建立预测模型，了解甲烷氧化联合体将如何应对环境变化，以及这些反应将如何影响来自海洋的甲烷通量。深海甲烷的大部分在到达海面之前被厌氧甲烷氧化古生菌消耗，古生菌与硫酸盐还原细菌处于同养关系，将甲烷氧化与硫酸盐还原结合在一起。最近的工作表明，这种古生菌-细菌共生扩展到合作行为，如直接电子转移和共享固定氮。这项研究将通过利用1)蛋白质组学来广泛了解这些微生物联合体的代谢潜力，以及2)核糖体图谱来确定单核苷酸分辨率下微生物群落的翻译图景，从而在翻译水平上增加对微生物群落中生命驱动过程的理解。除了用于深海沉积物，该项目的产品(如实验设计)可以适用于许多不同的复杂群落，包括农业土壤或其他复杂微生物群。此外，该研究员将与主办机构和当地社区学院的外联中心合作，促进研究交流，帮助简化转到四年制大学的过程。该研究员还将参与主办机构的当前规划，以增加未被充分代表的群体对科学的参与。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Understanding of how the planet’s climate responds to fluxes in levels of carbon is critical for predicting outcomes that inform how we interact with our environment at an individual level and as a community. One of the carbon-containing molecules that lead to changes in climate is methane, a potent “greenhouse gas”. A major source of methane is the deep ocean floor, though most of this methane does not reach the surface of the ocean because it is consumed by certain microbes (Archaea, a distinct Domain of life) as an energy source. To perform this task, these archaea live in partnership with bacteria and share the energy yield. Currently, little is known about which cellular components facilitate interactions within these microbial communities, and how the production of these components is regulated. In this project, an interdisciplinary approach will be used to determine the mechanisms that deep ocean microbes use to sense and interact with their environment and each other. Through the study of the microbes that govern carbon flux in the ocean, it will be possible to make better models to predict potential feedback from dynamic changes in the global climate. The fellow will also work to strengthen the relationship between the host institution and the local community college, which will provide greater accessibility for student exposure to research at the university-level. Through the intersection of molecular biology, biogeochemistry, and microbial ecology, the fellow will help build predictive models about how methane oxidizing consortia will respond to changes in their environment, and how those responses will impact methane flux from the oceans. The majority of deep-sea methane is consumed before reaching the surface by anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea that live in a syntrophic relationship with sulfate-reducing bacteria, coupling methane oxidation to sulfate reduction. Recent work indicates this archaeal-bacterial symbiosis extends to cooperative behaviors such as such as direct electron transfer and sharing fixed nitrogen. This study will increase understanding of the processes driving life in microbial consortia at the translational level by utilizing 1) proteomics to broadly understand the metabolic potential of these consortia and 2) ribosome profiling to determine the translational landscape of the microbial communities at single-nucleotide resolution. Beyond use in the deep ocean sediments, the products from this project (such as the experimental design) can be applicable to many different complex communities, including agricultural soils or other complex microbiomes. Further, the fellow will work with outreach centers both at the host institution and the local community college to facilitate research exchanges and help ease the process of transferring to a four-year college. The fellow will also participate in current programming within the host institution to increase participation of underrepresented groups in the sciences.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.