New perspectives on ocean photosynthesis

太阳能最终驱动所有生物地球化学循环，维持地球的可居住性。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“固定”新碳的光自养过程中使用它，从而维持碳循环。然而，通常情况下，碳固定受到可用营养物质（例如铁）的限制，但光仍然被吸收以驱动光异养过程。人们越来越认识到这种光异养代谢在海洋系统中为重要的细胞过程（如二氧化碳浓度和营养吸收）提供动力的重要性和作用。然而，不同的光异养过程的机制基础以及如何/何时使用它们尚不清楚。该项目旨在结合原位和实验方法，以了解不同太阳能捕获策略的使用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提供重要的新见解，以及该系统如何进化并将如何适应未来的海洋。

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.