NOSASSO: N-OSmolytes Across the Surface Southern Ocean: Environmental Drivers and Bioinformatics

含氮化合物，包括甘氨酸甜菜碱（GBT）、胆碱和三甲胺n-氧化物（TMAO）在海洋生物中普遍存在。它们被海洋生物用作相容溶质，以应对环境条件的变化，例如盐度的增加，因为它们不干扰细胞代谢。它们在保护蛋白质不因化学或物理损伤而变性方面也有有益的作用。在海洋环境中，由于环境条件的变化，例如病毒裂解或放牧，这些化合物经常从这些生物中直接释放到海水中。释放的含氮渗透物是海洋微生物的重要营养物质，可以作为碳、氮和能量的来源。众所周知，这些含氮渗透物的降解有助于释放气候活性气体，包括挥发性甲胺。甲胺是海洋大气中气溶胶的重要来源，它有助于反射阳光并对气候产生冷却效应。我们nerc资助的研究开始了解这些化合物的微生物代谢及其在沿海表层海水中的季节性循环，但我们对世界海洋的了解有限。对地球气候特别重要的是南大洋。南大洋在地球气候系统中扮演着重要的角色，由于其与大陆排放和强烈的绕极大气环流隔绝，使其空气纯净，是研究海洋-大气联系的理想区域。然而，研究南大洋的机会很少，与世界其他海洋相比，即使进行最常规的测量，南大洋的样本仍然不足。在南极环球航行考察队（ACE）中，我们有一个独特的机会在整个南大洋和南极洲附近进行测量和收集样本。21个其他国际项目也将从同一考察中进行研究，其中6个项目与我们的研究有很好的联系。不幸的是，在考察结束后，没有计划让项目进行协作和整合数据，这是一个真正错过的机会。该提案旨在开发一个包含六个ACE项目的新的国际网络，并利用巡航后的活动来利用我们的nerc资助的氮渗透物研究产生的数据和知识，并增加其国际广度。

Nitrogen-containing compounds, including glycine betaine (GBT), choline and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) are ubiquitous in marine organisms. They are used by marine organisms as compatible solutes in response to changes in environmental conditions, such as increasing salinity, because they do not interfere with cell metabolism. They also have beneficial effects in protecting proteins against denaturation due to chemical or physical damage.In the marine environment, these compounds are frequently released from these organisms directly into seawater due to changing environmental conditions, such as by viral lysis or grazing. The released nitrogenous osmolytes serve as important nutrients for marine microorganisms, which can use them as carbon, nitrogen and energy sources. It is well known that the degradation of these nitrogenous osmolytes contribute to the release of climate-active gases, including volatile methylamines. Methylamines are important sources of aerosols in the marine atmosphere, which help to reflect sunlight and cause a cooling effect on the climate. Our NERC-funded research is starting to understand the microbial metabolism of these compounds and their seasonal cycles in the coastal surface seawater, but our understanding across the world's oceans is limited.Of particular importance to the Earth's climate is the Southern Ocean. The Southern Ocean is an important player in the Earth climate system, and is an ideal region to study ocean-atmosphere connections because of its isolation from continental emissions and the strong circumpolar atmospheric circulation, rendering its air pristine. Opportunities to study the Southern Ocean are rare however, and it remains under sampled even for the most routine measurements compared to the rest of the World's oceans. We have a unique opportunity within the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) to make measurements and collect samples around the entire Southern Ocean, and near Antarctica. Twenty one other international projects will also be conducting research from the same expedition, and six of these projects have excellent links to our research. Unfortunately, there are no plans for after the expedition for the projects to collaborate and integrate data, which is a real missed opportunity. This proposal aims to develop a new international network with six ACE projects and use post-cruise activities to exploit data and knowledge generated to capitalise on our NERC-funded research on nitrogenous osmolytes and to increase its international breadth.