MRI: Acquisition of a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometer for Marine Biogeochemical Research

MRI：购买核磁共振波谱仪用于海洋生物地球化学研究

• 批准号: 1828581
• 负责人: Daniel Repeta
• 金额: $ 62.01万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-10-01 至 2020-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1828581&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Nuclear; Magnetic; Resonance

Ocean productivity, the health of our planet, and many of the resources foundational to our modern society, are in large part by-products by how very tiny, single celled microbes manufacture and degrade organic compounds in the ocean. Each day ocean microbes synthesize enormous quantities of proteins, sugars, and fats. In doing so, they manufacture a large share of the oxygen we breathe, they remove harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and they serve as food for many commercially important species of marine fish and crustaceans. Microbes "clean" seawater of pollutants, and serve as the base of marine ecosystems. However, marine microbes live a very competitive environment. The nutrients that microbes need to grow and thrive are extremely scarce, and nutrient cycling is extraordinarily efficient. Even small disturbances in microbial nutrient cycles can have major consequences; oxygen in seawater can disappear, and ecosystems can collapse. To understand how microbial cycles operate, we need to identify and track organic compounds and nutrients that are key to sustaining microbial life. Here we request funds to refurbish and modernize a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer for use in a broad suite of marine biogeochemical studies designed to understand microbial nutrient cycles. The instrument will allow a number of scientists, students and staff at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to identify key organic nutrient compounds that microbes use to extract nutrients from seawater, fend off predation, and shield themselves from harmful UV radiation. The instrument will also be critical to training the next generation of marine scientists through the WHOI postdoctoral and summer student fellowship programs, and the WHOI/MIT Joint Graduate Program in ocean sciences.Iron and phosphorus are two nutrients that limit and shape marine microbial communities across large tracts of the ocean. The chemical forms of marine iron and phosphorus are largely unknown, and over the next few years, we propose use the NMR spectroscopy to identify iron, copper, cobalt, and phosphorus containing organic compounds. Initial results have allowed us to show that the degradation of organic phosphonates is a source of atmospheric methane and ethylene, and that siderophores, compounds synthesized by marine microbes to extract iron from the environment, are actively produced in regions of the ocean where iron is scarce. We will continue this work through the US GEOTRACES program, which will measure trace metal and nutrient abundances across the Pacific Ocean from Alaska to Tahiti. Many organic compounds and organic nutrients are supplied by dust and river discharge into ocean margins. Determining the chemical identity of terrestrial organic matter entering the ocean, and its availability to marine microbial communities is key to understanding microbial nutrient cycles. A second focus of our research over the next few years will be in using enhanced NMR techniques to better characterize the nature and transformations of terrestrial organic matter as it enters the ocean.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

海洋生产率，我们的星球的健康以及我们现代社会的许多基础资源，在很大程度上是副产品，这是多么微小的单细胞微生物的生产和降解海洋中的有机化合物的多么微小。 每天海洋微生物合成大量蛋白质，糖和脂肪。 在这样做的过程中，它们生产了我们呼吸的大量氧气，从大气中清除了有害的二氧化碳，并用作许多商业上重要的海洋鱼类和甲壳类动物的食物。 微生物“清洁”污染物的海水，并充当海洋生态系统的基础。 但是，海洋微生物的环境非常具竞争力。 微生物需要生长和繁殖的营养极为稀缺，营养循环非常有效。 即使是微生物营养周期中的微小干扰也可能产生重大后果。海水中的氧气会消失，生态系统可能崩溃。 为了了解微生物周期的运行方式，我们需要识别和跟踪有机化合物和营养素，这些化合物和营养是维持微生物寿命的关键。 在这里，我们要求资金进行翻新和现代化核磁共振（NMR）光谱仪，以用于广泛的海洋生物地球化学研究，旨在了解微生物营养循环。 该仪器将允许伍兹孔海洋学机构（WHOI）的许多科学家，学生和员工识别微生物用来从海水中提取营养的关键有机养分化合物，并挡住捕食，并保护自己免受有害的紫外线辐射。 该乐器对于通过WHOI博士后和夏季学生奖学金计划以及海洋科学中的WHOI/MIT联合研究生计划训练下一代海洋科学家也将很重要。IROR和PHOSPHORUS是两种限制和塑造海洋大区域的海洋微生物社区的营养素。 海洋铁和磷的化学形式在很大程度上是未知的，在接下来的几年中，我们建议使用NMR光谱鉴定含有有机化合物的铁，铜，钴和磷。 最初的结果使我们能够表明，有机磷酸盐的降解是大气甲烷和乙烯的来源，而铁载体是由海洋微生物合成以从环境中提取铁的化合物，是在铁很少的海洋地区积极生产的。 我们将通过美国的地理领域计划继续这项工作，该计划将测量从阿拉斯加到大溪地的太平洋的痕量金属和营养丰富的丰度。 许多有机化合物和有机养分由灰尘和河流排放到海缘提供。 确定进入海洋的陆生有机物的化学身份，以及其对海洋微生物群落的可用性是了解微生物营养周期的关键。 在接下来的几年中，我们的研究的第二个重点是使用增强的NMR技术，以更好地表征陆地有机物进入海洋时的性质和转变。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的审查标准来通过评估来通过评估来支持的。