Collaborative Research: Dimensions US-China-South Africa: Establishing genetic, phylogenetic and functional mechanisms that shape microbiome diversity of polar and alpine soils

合作研究：维度美国-中国-南非：建立塑造极地和高山土壤微生物组多样性的遗传、系统发育和功能机制

• 批准号: 2129250
• 负责人: Thomas Hanson
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2129250&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Dimensions; US; China

Microorganisms are the foundations of ecosystems and drive the biology and chemistry in soils, e.g. the conversion of soil organic matter into the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane, as well as nitrogen and phosphorous compounds that can be used by plants. Soil microbial community diversity maintains ecosystem stability and sustainability. Understanding the ecology of these microorganisms is one of the most compelling scientific challenges. This project will focus on the microbial ecology of soil ecosystems in the Arctic, Antarctic, and Tibetan Plateau. These “tri-polar” soils are chosen for study as they are disproportionately impacted by climate change and predicted to show increased microbial activity and enhanced turnover of soil organic matter in the future. While microbes excel at adapting to environmental change, the functional implications of microbial community transitions remain to be characterized. Laboratory- and field-based approaches will identify microorganisms that are successful in these “tri-polar” soil ecosystems and why, i.e., which bacterial species/strains are successful and what functional traits make them successful. Understanding how soil ecosystems respond in these polar regions is critical for evaluating the controls of biogeochemical cycling and clarifying microbial feedbacks in a changing world. This project will assemble an international team and recruit young scholars to reflect a blend of expertise in microbiology, ecology and environmental sciences. Research will be integrated with educational activities by involving samples and data into hands-on classroom training at the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels.This project will delineate mechanisms that lead to diverse soil microbial communities that are hallmarks of stable and sustainable soils. We lack predictive understanding of mechanisms that regulate and maintain microbial biodiversity and how this relates to biogeochemically relevant microbial functions. Integrative approaches are needed to identify the principles that shape and maintain this biodiversity. This project combines genetic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of biodiversity to probe factors that shape the “morass of diversity” of soil systems. The overarching hypothesis is that resource partitioning, selective predation, and temporal separation of activity each contribute to the success of particular bacterial strains/species in polar and alpine systems. The international research team will focus on testing these hypotheses in soils across Arctic, Antarctic and Tibetan Plateau habitats with the Acidobacteria as a model microbial phylum for study. Laboratory- and field-based approaches will be linked to describe the genetic, phylogenetic and functional diversity the Acidobacteria, one of the most ubiquitous but elusive bacterial phyla found in terrestrial ecosystems around the globe. The study will identify their ecosystem functions in soils, their interactions with other microbes, their adaptations to environmental stress such as climate change, and will assess their in situ dynamics and activity. Integration of these data will address which organisms compete for resources, avoid predation, and ultimately, occupy fundamentally distinct niches in these ecosystems. Elucidating these equalizing/stabilizing mechanisms can begin to explain the tremendous bacterial diversity observed in soil microbiomes.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.

微生物是生态系统的基础，并驱动土壤中的生物学和化学，例如土壤有机物转化为温室气体二氧化碳和甲烷，以及植物可以使用的氮和磷酸化合物。土壤微生物社区多样性保持生态系统稳定性和可持续性。了解这些微生物的生态是最引人注目的科学挑战之一。该项目将着重于北极，南极和藏族高原的土壤生态系统的微生物生态学。这些“三极”土壤被选择进行研究，因为它们受到气候变化的不成比例影响，并预测将来会显示出增加的微生物活性并增强了土壤有机物的周转率。尽管微生物在适应环境变化时表现出色，但微生物群落过渡的功能含义仍有待表征。基于实验室和现场的方法将确定在这些“三极”土壤生态系统中成功的微生物，以及为什么，哪些细菌物种/菌株成功，哪些功能性状使它们成功。了解在这些极地地区土壤生态系统如何反应对于评估对不断变化的世界中生物地球化学自行车的控制和微生物反馈的控制至关重要。该项目将组建一个国际团队，并招募年轻学者，以反映微生物学，生态学和环境科学方面的专业知识融合。研究将与教育活动相结合，通过将样本和数据纳入K-12，本科和研究生级别的动手课堂培训。该项目将描述导致稳定和可持续土壤的标志的潜水土壤微生物群落的机制。我们缺乏对调节和维持微生物生物多样性的机制的预测性理解，以及与生物地球化学相关的微生物功能的关系。需要进行综合方法来确定塑造和维持这种生物多样性的原理。该项目结合了生物多样性的遗传，系统发育和功能维度，以探测塑造土壤系统“多样性”的因素。总体假设是资源分配，选择性预测和活动的临时分离都有助于在极性和高山系统中特定细菌菌株/物种的成功。国际研究团队将专注于以酸性杆菌为模型微生物门的北极，南极和藏族高原栖息地测试这些假设。基于实验室和野外的方法将与描述酸眼病的遗传，系统发育和功能多样性有关，这是全球陆地生态系统中发现的最普遍但难以捉摸的细菌门之一。该研究将确定其在土壤中的生态系统功能，与其他微生物的相互作用，对环境压力（例如气候变化）的适应，并将评估其原位动态和活动。这些数据的整合将解决哪些生物竞争资源，避免预览，并最终占据这些生态系统中的根本不同的生态位。阐明这些均衡/稳定机制可以开始解释插座微生物组中观察到的巨大细菌多样性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响来评估NSF的法定任务。