Microbiome Hunter: Mobile Laboratory and high-throughput molecular analysis of soil microbiomes

地下微生物群落通过营养相互作用、土壤地球化学循环和植物-土壤反馈与地上群落紧密相连，这些相互作用最终控制着生态系统的功能。该研究计划使用宏基因组学和元转录组学方法在现场条件下原位研究微生物群落。这笔赠款将支持购买进行高通量采样活动所需的设备，这些设备可用于在高时间和特殊分辨率下研究土壤微生物组。这将包括：一辆移动的拖车，配有工作站、水泵（用于水取样）、冷冻机和发电机，可进行多日取样。在实验室中，通过增加自动化核酸提取和纯化系统以及具有384个反应威尔斯的高容量qPCR机，将改善处理样本的数量和质量。随着高通量技术的使用，土壤和水环境研究的范围可以大大扩大。通过将密集的微生物分析与生态和地球化学测量相结合，研究土地利用管理和环境变化对土壤生物多样性的影响以及土壤生态系统服务将成为可能。这种综合研究方法是必要的，以解决关键的社会问题，涉及土壤微生物在农业生态系统，如土壤健康，初级生产力和土壤生态系统服务的监管，如温室气体排放，养分循环，水源水质和人类健康。移动的实验室和实验室设备将有助于超过15个HQP的研究计划，学生将接受现场和分子微生物学技术的培训，使他们在环境科学和农业领域具有高度的就业能力。

Belowground microbial communities are tightly linked to aboveground communities through trophic interactions, biogeochemical cycling and plant-soil feedbacks, and these interactions ultimately govern ecosystem functioning. This research program uses metagenomics and metatransciptomics approaches to study microbial communities in situ under field conditions. This grant will support the purchase of equipment required to undertake high-throughput sampling campaigns that can be used to study the soil microbiome at high temporal and special resolution, on a landscape-scale. This will include: a mobile trailer equipped for multi-day sampling with a workstation, water pump (for water sampling), freezer and power generator. In the lab, the quantity and quality of processed samples will be ameliorated with the addition of automated nucleic acid extraction and purification system, and a high capacity qPCR machine with 384 reaction wells. With the use of high-throughput technologies, the scope of environmental research in soil and water can be significantly expanded. By combining intense microbial analysis with ecological and geochemical measurements studies examining land use management and environmental change impacting soil biodiversity and hence soil ecosystem services will be possible. This integrated research approach is required in order to address critical societal issues involving soil microorganisms in agro-ecosystems such as soil health, primary productivity and the regulation of soil ecosystem services such as greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient cycling, source water quality and human health. The mobile laboratory and laboratory equipment will contribute to the research programs of over 15 HQP, students will be trained in both field and molecular microbiology techniques, making them highly employable in the field of environmental science and agriculture.