Collaborative Research: RAPID: Microbiologic sampling of continental subsurface fluids from within the Cornell University Borehole Observatory (CUBO)

该项目将从地下约1.5英里至近2英里的地下收集热水咸水样本，以研究这些深度可能生活的微生物。收集这些样本的不同寻常的机会来自于2022年夏天在纽约州北部的康奈尔大学校园里钻的一口深井。这种深层环境被认为是极端环境，因为那里温度温暖(150-200˚F)，盐浓度高，缺乏阳光(能量)，缺乏营养物质。微生物细胞将从收集的样本中计数，以更好地了解有多少生活在地下。将对DNA进行分析，以确定哪些类型的微生物生活在地下，并了解这些微生物如何在如此极端的环境中生存。增进我们对地下微生物多样性及其生存方式的了解，可能会为了解地球和宇宙其他地方的生命起源提供潜在的见解。此外，这项研究将收集地下水进行化学分析，以更好地描述这种极端环境，并帮助在实验室中培养收集到的生物。总的来说，细胞计数、DNA、化学和生长实验将提高我们对地下生命以及生命对地球化学的影响的理解。作为该项目的一部分，在康奈尔大学钻孔观测站(CUBO)完成后，将收集深层地下卤水流体样本。CUBO是美国能源部资助的一口3公里深的地热勘探井，将于2022年夏季在康奈尔大学纽约州北部校园钻探。该项目的主要目标是：(1)在计划的抽水测试期间收集和保存用于地球化学分析的水，(2)使用显微镜量化生物量浓度，(3)过滤和保存用于基因组分析的100升液体，以及(4)建立浓缩培养。采样的目标是前寒武纪变质/结晶基底和覆盖的古生代沉积序列，深度在2.3-3.0公里，温度预计为~70-95˚C。这里建议的用于地球化学和微生物表征的大量流体采样不属于能源部支持的范围。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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 project will collect samples of hot salty groundwater from roughly 1.5 to nearly 2 miles underground to study what microorganisms may live at these depths. The unusual opportunity to collect these samples comes from a deep well that is being drilled on Cornell University’s campus in upstate New York during Summer 2022. This deep environment is considered to be an extreme environment because of the warm temperature (150-200˚F), high salt concentration, lack of sunlight (energy), and lack of nutrients. Microbial cells will be counted from the collected samples to provide a better understanding of how much live lives underground. DNA will be analyzed to identify which types of microorganisms are living underground and to understand how those microorganisms survive in such an extreme environment. Ad¬vancing our knowledge of the diversity of microorganisms underground and how they survive can potentially provide insights into the origins of life on Earth and elsewhere in the universe. Additionally, this study will collect groundwater for chemical analyses that will better describe this extreme environment and aid efforts to grow the collected organisms in the laboratory. Collectively, cell counts, DNA, chemistry, and growth experiments will improve our understanding of life in the subsurface and life’s impacts to the chemistry of our planet. As part of this project, deep subsurface briny fluid samples will be collected upon completion of the Cornell University Borehole Observatory (CUBO), a DOE-funded 3-km deep geothermal exploratory well being drilled on Cornell’s upstate New York campus during summer 2022. Key objectives of the project are to: (1) collect and preserve water for geochemical analyses during a planned pump test, (2) quantify biomass concentrations using microscopy, (3) filter and preserve 100s of liters of fluid for genomic analyses, and (4) establish enrichment cultures. Sampling will target the Precambrian metamorphic / crystalline basement and overlying Paleozoic sedimentary sequences between 2.3 – 3.0 km depth where temperatures are expected to be ~ 70-95˚C. The large volume fluid sampling for geochemical and microbiologic characterization proposed here is not a part of the DOE-supported scope.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.