Uncovering microbial tactics in drinking water supply systems: using advances in genetics for countering the effects of climate change

这项研究将通过提高水务公司的效率直接造福英国和国外的社会。该奖学金的目的是为城市水工程领域的创新建立新的研究途径，并为英国和世界范围内存在的与水有关的挑战，特别是气候变化，带来新的实用解决方案。该提案解决了EPSRC/LWEC的基本问题“我们的城市，他们的耕地，连接基础设施，农村周边和他们所在的地区，转变为具有复原力、可持续性、经济上更可行和总体上更好的居住地？".为了回答这个具有挑战性的问题，该研究将调查环境变化对饮用水分配系统（DWDS）的影响，目的是产生新的知识和工具，以可持续和经济可行的方式改善我们城市的饮用水供应方式。由于气候变化，用于供水的水源将受到更多的污染和限制，水温将上升，水需求的长期变化将影响管道水力。所有这些变化都将对DWDS中发生的生物和物理化学过程产生重大影响，并将迫使水务公司改变通过DWDS供水的方式。该奖学金将支持在一个新的研究线，我的目标是整合微生物学，遗传学和水工程，详细探索DWDS隐藏的方面，以发展一个完整的系统理解的重要的第一步。目前，饮用水的监测策略包括使用“老式”培养方法检测水龙头中的微生物。然而，水中的微生物组成并不能代表附着在管道上的生物膜（微生物组合），并且依赖培养的方法低估了DWDS中真实的微生物多样性。生物膜非常重要，因为它们包含DWDS中的大部分微生物生物量，并且它们通过例如宿主病原体、促进管道腐蚀以及水的味道和颜色的变化来影响水质和安全。因此，迫切需要研究微生物将如何应对DWDS内的环境变化，以及这将如何影响DWDS的性能和饮用水的安全和质量。由于DWDS不是无菌的（即完全没有微生物），还需要研究确定哪些参数支持“友好微生物”的存在，这些“友好微生物”能够保持DWDS的良好性能，但也阻止有害微生物在管道中存活。为了回答这些问题，研究将评估DWDS在受控实验室条件下测试的不同气候变化情况，包括：水温升高、水体氮磷含量增加和极端水力波动。对实验样本的DNA/RNA分析将用于揭示微生物多样性之间的联系（谁在那里？）和功能（他们在做什么？），并将有助于确定涉及一系列过程的基因，包括对消毒和致病潜力的抗性。生物和环境数据将使用水文/生物信息学方法进行整合，最终目的是开发新的监测和管理工具：1）新的风险评估框架; 2）生物预警系统。这些工具的效率将使用来自英国水务公司和欧洲合作伙伴的真实的数据进行测试。将调查结果传播给工业界、学术界和公众将得到奔宁水务集团和谢菲尔德水务中心的支持。该奖学金将通过为分子微生物学和水利工程的创新创造一个新的平台，促进我作为城市水研究领域世界领导者的职业发展。

This research will directly benefit society in the UK and abroad by increasing the effectiveness of water companies. The aim of the fellowship is to establish new research avenues for innovation in the field of urban water engineering and to bring novel practical solutions to the water-related challenges, in particular climate change, existing in the UK and worldwide.The proposal addresses the EPSRC/LWEC fundamental question "How can our cities, their hinterlands, linking infrastructure, rural surround and the regions they are in, be transformed to be resilient, sustainable, more economically viable and generally better places to live?". To answer this challenging question the research will investigate the impact of environmental change on drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) with the aim of generating new knowledge and tools that will improve the way drinking water is supplied in our cities, in a sustainable and economically viable way. As a consequence of climate change water sources used for water supply will be more contaminated and limited, the temperature of the water will increase and long-term changes in water demand will affect pipe hydraulics. All these changes will significantly affect biological and physico-chemical processes taking place in DWDS and will force water companies to modify the way they deliver water via DWDS. The fellowship will support the essential first steps in a new research line where my aim is to integrate microbiology, genetics and water engineering to explore in detail hidden aspects of DWDS in order to develop a whole system understanding. At present, the monitoring strategies for drinking water involve detecting microorganisms in water from taps using "old-fashioned" culture methods. However, the microbial composition of water is not representative of the biofilms (microbial assemblages) attached to pipes and culture-dependent methods underestimate the real microbial diversity in DWDS. Biofilms have great importance since they contain most of the microbial biomass in DWDS and they influence water quality and safety by, for example, hosting pathogens, promoting pipe corrosion and changes in water taste and colour. Consequently, there is an urgent need for research on how microorganisms will respond to environmental change within DWDS and how this will impact on DWDS performance and on drinking water safety and quality. Since DWDS are not sterile (i.e. completely free from microorganisms), research is also needed to identify which parameters support the presence of "friendly microorganisms" capable of maintaining the good performance of DWDS but also discouraging harmful microorganisms from surviving in the pipes.To answer these questions the research will assess different climate change situations in DWDS tested under controlled laboratory conditions including: increase in water temperature, increase in water nitrogen and phosphorus and extreme hydraulic fluctuations. Analysis of DNA/RNA from experimental samples will be used to uncover the link between microbial diversity (who is there?) and function (what are they doing?), and will help to identify genes involved in a range of processes including resistance to disinfection and pathogenic potential. Biological and environmental data will be integrated using hydro/bioinformatic methods with the ultimate aim of developing novel monitoring and management tools: 1) a new risk assessment framework; and 2) Biological Early Warning Systems (BEWS). The efficiency of these tools will be tested using real data from UK water companies and European partners. Dissemination of findings to industry, academics and the general public will be supported by the Pennine Water Group and through the Sheffield Water Centre. The fellowship will facilitate the development of my career as a world leader in urban water research by creating a new platform for innovation in molecular microbiology and hydraulic engineering.