COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Biogeochemical Exploration of Acidic and Neutral Hypersaline Environments of Australia

合作研究：澳大利亚酸性和中性超盐环境的生物地球化学勘探

• 批准号: 0433040
• 负责人: Kathleen Benison
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Central Michigan University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-01-01 至 2008-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0433040&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Biogeochemical; Exploration; Acidic

EAR-0433040BenisonAn NSF Biogeosciences grant has been awarded to Drs. Melanie R. Mormile, Francisca E. Oboh-Ikuenobe (University of Missouri-Rolla), and Kathleen C. Benison (Central Michigan University) to determine if evaporites truly trap a representative population of microorganisms from hypersaline environments. If this is found to be true, these findings can possibly be extrapolated to microorganisms entrapped in ancient or possibly extraterrestrial evaporites and used to describe previous microbial communities and therefore, make interpretations about past water chemistries and past climates. Microorganisms represent the basic life forms existing in most environmental settings. They are sensitive to climatic parameters, and can influence water chemistry, biological activity, and mineralization. Evaporite minerals are a wealth of paleoenvironmental data due to their sensitivity to climate, water chemistry, and hydrology. In addition, evaporites can form in extreme environmental conditions, such as extremely acid saline lakes in Western Australia. These lakes might serve as good analogs to Mars. Traditionally, studies of evaporite settings and their deposits have overlooked microorganisms largely because they are generally poorly preserved in the rock record. However, through this research, answers to the following questions will be found: What microorganisms are present in the lake waters, groundwaters, and sediments of acid and neutral saline lake environments? Are the microorganisms found living in the waters represented in the fluid inclusions of the evaporite minerals? Are the microorganisms specific acidophiles? What role did the microorganisms play in the evolution of the water chemistry? To answer these questions, a sampling trip will be made to Australia to collect a comprehensive set of lake water, groundwater, evaporite, and siliciclastic sediment samples. The following objectives will be achieved: 1. Identify and compare the biological remains in halite and gypsum with those in their parent waters and sediments. Both traditional culture methods and molecular biology techniques will be used to compare the microbial populations in the environments listed above. 2. Grow evaporite crystals under laboratory conditions to study selected environmental influences on crystal formation and the microorganisms that become entrapped. 3. Identify any differences in microorganisms (ranging from prokaryotes to freshwater dinoflagellates and algae) between neutral and moderately acidic saline lakes and groundwaters in Victoria and Western Australia, between neutral and extremely acidic saline lakes within a small region of Western Australia, as well as among extremely acidic saline lakes and groundwaters in Western Australia. The 16S rDNA from the bacteria isolated from these environments will be sequenced and compared. 4. Constrain depositional, environmental, and climatic conditions using basic sedimentology, petrography, fluid inclusion studies, and palynology. Sedimentary structures and grain characteristics will be used to trace depositional history. We anticipate that novel microorganisms will be found. These organisms can possibly be used for the bioremediation of contaminated sites that are impacted by extremes in saline and acidic conditions. In addition, our findings will have implications for future Mars research and the possibility that life can occur on planetary bodies besides Earth. Of all the planetary bodies explored, Mars most closely resemble Earth. In particular, terrestrial acid sedimentary systems are similar in general mineralogy, geochemistry, and geomorphology to the Martian surface. Furthermore, this project will be responsible for the training of students ranging from undergraduate level to Post-Doctoral students. There is also a significant outreach component that includes a partnership with the St. Louis Science Center as well as a course on the geology and microbiology of extreme environments targeted towards K-12 educators.

EAR-0433040Benisonan NSF Biogeosciences赠款已授予Drs。梅兰妮·R·莫米尔（Melanie R. 如果发现这是正确的，那么这些发现可能会推断到捕获在古代或可能是外星蒸发物中的微生物中，并用于描述以前的微生物群落，因此，对过去的水化学和过去的气候做出解释。 微生物代表大多数环境环境中存在的基本生命形式。 它们对气候参数敏感，可以影响水化学，生物学活性和矿化。 蒸发矿物矿物质是大量古环境数据，因为它们对气候，水化学和水文学的敏感性。 此外，蒸发物可以在极端的环境条件下形成，例如西澳大利亚州的极酸盐湖泊。 这些湖泊可能是对火星的好类似物。 传统上，对蒸发环境及其沉积物的研究忽略了微生物，这主要是因为它们在岩石记录中的保存通常很差。 但是，通过这项研究，将发现以下问题的答案：湖水，地下水和中性盐湖环境的湖水，地下水和沉积物中存在哪些微生物？是否发现生活在蒸发矿物的流体夹杂物中的水域中的微生物？是微生物特定的嗜酸剂吗？微生物在水化学的发展中起着什么作用？ 为了回答这些问题，将进行抽样旅行，以收集一组综合的湖水，地下水，蒸发和硅质碎屑沉积物样品。 将实现以下目标：1。识别并比较了Halite和石膏中的生物遗骸与父母水域和沉积物中的生物遗体。 传统培养方法和分子生物学技术都将用于比较上面列出的环境中的微生物种群。 2。在实验室条件下生长蒸发晶体，以研究所选的环境影响对晶体形成和被夹住的微生物的影响。 3。确定中性和中度酸性盐水湖泊和中度酸性盐水湖与中度酸性盐水湖泊以及西澳大利亚州和西澳大利亚州的地下水之间的微生物（从原核生物到淡水鞭毛和藻类）的任何差异。 将测序并比较从这些环境中分离的细菌的16S rDNA。 4。使用基本沉积学，岩石学，流体包容研究和palenology的约束沉积，环境和气候条件。 沉积结构和谷物特征将用于追踪沉积历史。我们预计会发现新型的微生物。 这些生物可能可用于在盐水和酸性条件下受到极端影响的受污染部位的生物修复。 此外，我们的发现将对未来的火星研究产生影响，并且生命可能发生在地球以外的行星机构上。 在探索的所有行星体中，火星最类似于地球。 特别是，在一般矿物学，地球化学和地貌学上，陆酸沉积系统与火星表面相似。 此外，该项目将负责培训从本科级别到博士后学生的培训。 还有一个重要的外展部分，包括与圣路易斯科学中心建立合作伙伴关系，以及针对K-12教育者的极端环境的地质和微生物学课程。