New perspectives on ocean photosynthesis

太阳能最终驱动着所有的生物地球化学循环，并维持着行星的宜居性。在海洋中，各种各样的微生物吸收这种太阳能，许多微生物在光自养过程中利用它来固定新的碳，从而维持碳循环。然而，固碳通常受到可利用的营养物质(例如铁)的限制，但光仍然被吸收以驱动光的异养过程。人们越来越认识到海洋系统中这种光异养代谢在推动重要的细胞过程，如二氧化碳浓度和养分吸收方面的重要性和作用。然而，不同光异养过程的机制基础以及它们如何/何时被利用还没有被很好地理解。该项目旨在将现场方法和实验方法结合起来，以了解使用不同太阳能捕获策略的条件及其维持的细胞过程。这将为利用太阳能维持行星系统，以及该系统如何进化并将适应未来的海洋提供重要的新见解。

Solar energy ultimately drives all biogeochemical cycles and sustains planetary habitability. In the oceans, diverse microbes absorb this solar energy and many use it in photoautotrophic processes that 'fix' new carbon, thereby sustaining the carbon cycle. Often, however, carbon-fixation is limited by available nutrients (for example, iron) but light is still absorbed to drive photoheterotrophic processes. There is an increasing appreciation of the importance and role of this photoheterotrophic metabolism in ocean systems in powering vital cellular processes such as CO2 concentration and nutrient uptake. However, the mechanistic basis of different photoheterotrophic processes and how/when they are used are not well understood. This project aims to couple in situ and experimental approaches to understand the conditions under which different solar energy capture strategies are used and the cellular processes they maintain. This will provide important new insights into the use of solar energy to sustain the planetary system, and how the system evolved and will adapt in a future ocean.