Collaborative Research: Teasing apart coexisting cyanobacteria in the Laurentian Great Lakes

合作研究：梳理劳伦森五大湖中共存的蓝藻

• 批准号: 1830002
• 负责人: Anne Thompson
• 金额: $ 6.29万
• 依托单位: Portland State University
• 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: 2018-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1830002&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Teasing; apart; coexisting

The Laurentian Great Lakes hold 20% of our planet's surface freshwater and 84% of US surface freshwater, comprising the largest freshwater ecosystem on Earth. They provide critical ecosystem services such as fisheries and recreation, and serve as the drinking water source to 40 million people. In recent decades, the Great Lakes have experienced significant environmental changes, such as nutrient pollution and invasive species, that have altered water chemistry and food web structure. In particular, the base of the food web has changed dramatically. Annual spring phytoplankton blooms have largely disappeared in Lakes Michigan and Huron, while toxic cyanobacterial blooms have increased in Lake Erie. The microorganisms that make up the base of the food web in the Great Lakes are poorly understood and play critical roles in regulating water quality and ecosystem productivity. This project characterizes single-celled cyanobacteria across the Laurentian Great Lakes to understand their genetic diversity and ecology. The investigators are working with local high schools on Chicago's south side to develop teaching modules about the role of microorganisms in the health of the Great Lakes. Local high school teachers will be engaged to design lessons about aquatic microbial ecology, with the goal of increasing Great Lakes literacy and STEM participation in Chicago's impoverished and diverse south side communities. Picocyanobacteria contribute up to 50% of primary production in some portions of the Laurentian Great Lakes. However, little is known about their population structure and dynamics, or about factors shaping their abundance and activity. Understanding controls on picocyanobacterial diversity and function is crucial for developing predictive biogeochemical models for the Great Lakes in the face of rapid environmental change. Multiple phylogenetic groups of coexisting picocyanobacteria in the Great Lakes have recently been identified, and this project characterizes their genetic, physiological, and ecological diversity. Using a combination of flow cytometry and molecular sequencing approaches, distinct populations are being quantified across lakes, depths, and seasons, and comparative genomics is being used to reveal how pathways and genes are distributed across taxa and habitats. Quantitative transcriptomics and proteomics are being used to diagnose environmental controls on gene expression and to assess the relative activity of distinct populations. Ongoing time series data and archived samples are being combined with targeted sampling aboard the R/V Blue Heron. This project advances our knowledge of the Great Lakes microbial food web by generating the first systematic picture of picocyanobacterial diversity in this ecosystem.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.

劳伦（Laurentian）大湖区拥有我们地球表面淡水的20％，其中84％的淡水占地淡水，其中包括地球上最大的淡水生态系统。他们提供关键的生态系统服务，例如渔业和娱乐活动，并为4000万人提供饮用水源。近几十年来，大湖区经历了重大的环境变化，例如营养污染和入侵物种，它们改变了水化学和食物网络结构。特别是，食物网的基础发生了巨大变化。在密歇根州湖泊和休伦湖中，年度春季浮游植物的盛开已大大消失，而伊利湖有毒的蓝细菌盛开量增加了。构成大湖区食物网基础的微生物知之甚少，在调节水质和生态系统生产力方面起着关键作用。该项目的特征是遍布劳伦斯大湖区的单细胞蓝细菌，以了解其遗传多样性和生态。调查人员正在与芝加哥南侧的当地高中合作，开发有关微生物在大湖健康中作用的教学模块。当地的高中教师将订婚有关水生微生物生态学的课程，目的是提高大湖识字率并参与芝加哥贫穷和多样化的南侧社区。在劳伦尼亚大湖的某些部分，皮基氨基杆菌贡献了多达50％的初级生产。但是，对它们的种群结构和动态或塑造其丰度和活动的因素知之甚少。理解对果科细菌多样性和功能的控制对于面对快速环境变化的大湖区开发预测性生物地球化学模型至关重要。最近已经确定了大湖中的多个系统发育群体共存的皮基氨基杆菌，该项目是它们的遗传，生理和生态多样性的特征。使用流式细胞仪和分子测序方法的结合，正在跨湖泊，深度和季节进行量化不同的种群，并使用比较基因组学来揭示途径和基因如何在分类群和栖息地之间分布。定量转录组学和蛋白质组学用于诊断基因表达的环境控制，并评估不同种群的相对活性。正在进行的时间序列数据和存档样品与R/V Blue Heron上的有针对性采样相结合。该项目通过在本生态系统中产生第一张系统的斑纹摩细菌多样性来提高我们对大湖微生物食品网络的了解。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评估标准通过评估来进行评估的。