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，驱动土壤中的生物和化学，例如将土壤有机物转化为温室气体二氧化碳和甲烷，以及可被植物利用的氮和磷化合物。了解这些微生物的生态是最引人注目的科学挑战之一，该项目将重点关注北极、南极和南极地区土壤生态系统的微生物生态。青藏高原选择这些“三极”土壤进行研究是因为它们受到气候变化的影响尤为严重，并且预计未来微生物活动会增加，土壤有机质的周转也会增强。微生物群落转变的功能影响仍有待表征，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原因，即哪些细菌。了解这些极地地区土壤生态系统的反应对于评估生物地球化学循环的控制和澄清不断变化的世界中的微生物反馈至关重要。学者们将通过将样本和数据纳入 K-12、本科生和研究生级别的实践课堂培训，将研究与教育活动相结合。该项目将描述导致多样化土壤微生物群落的机制是稳定和可持续土壤的标志，我们缺乏对调节和维持微生物多样性的机制的预测性了解，以及这与生物地球化学相关的微生物功能之间的关系，需要综合方法来确定形成和可持续土壤的原理。该项目结合了生物多样性的遗传、系统发育和功能维度，探讨形成土壤系统“多样性沼泽”的因素。总体假设是资源分配、选择性捕食和时间分离。每种活性都有助于极地和高山系统中特定细菌菌株/物种的成功，国际研究小组将重点在北极、南极和青藏高原栖息地的土壤中测试这些假设，并以酸杆菌作为模型微生物门进行研究。基于实验室和现场的方法将结合起来描述酸杆菌的遗传、系统发育和功能多样性，酸杆菌是自然界中发现的最普遍但最难以捉摸的细菌门之一。该研究将确定它们在土壤中的生态系统功能、它们与其他微生物的相互作用、它们对气候变化等环境压力的适应，并将评估它们的原位动态和活动，以解决哪些生物体的问题。争夺资源，避免被捕食，并最终在这些生态系统中占据根本上不同的生态位。阐明这些均衡/稳定机制可以开始解释土壤微生物组中观察到的巨大细菌多样性。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命。通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，并被认为值得支持。