Microbial diversity and key activities at hydrothermal habitats of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

在热液喷口发育的繁盛微生物群落严格依赖于热液流动。它们是初级生产者，以牺牲热液喷口的地球化学过程提供的还原底物中可用的能量为代价。关于热液喷口生态系统微生物多样性和生态位的知识仍然是零碎的。拟议的工作将侧重于与大西洋中部海脊热液喷口栖息地有关的微生物群落的多样性以及对这些群落的功能相关分析。它将包括真细菌和古生菌的多样性以及对这些生态系统重要的功能基因的多样性，这些基因编码二氧化碳固定、好氧甲烷氧化(PmoA)和硫磺氧化(SoxB)。将确定具有代表性的主要微生物类群在温度和化学梯度上的分布，将测量重要的生理功能，并将确定参与这些转化的微生物。拟议的工作将包括建立实验装置，以调查人工温度梯度内自然微生物群落的温度适应情况，用自然样品测量活性，分离和鉴定纯培养物。

Prospering microbial communities developing at hydrothermal vent sites are strictly dependent on the hydrothermal fluid flow. They are primary producers living at the expense of energy available in the reduced substrates provided by the geochemical processes of hydrothermal vents. Knowledge on mircrobial diversity and ecological niches at hydrothermal vent ecosystems is still fragmentary. The proposed work will focus on the diversity of microbial communities associated with hydrothermal vent habitats of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and function related analysis of these communities. It will include eubacterial and archaeal diversity as well as diversity of functional genes of importance for these ecosystems, which code for CO2 fixation, aerobib methane oxidation (pmoA) and sulfur oxidation (soxB). The distribution of major representative groups of microoranisms along temperature and chemical gradients will be determined, important physiological functions will be measured, and the microorganisms involved in these transformations will be identified. The proposed work will include experimental set ups to investigate temperature adaptation of natural microbial communities within artificial temperature gradients, activity measurements with natural samples, isolation and characterisation of the pure cultures.