MCA: Geosymbiotic interactions as innovation in Earth and environmental systems: Feedbacks between biological activity, chemical gradients and mineral phases at the pore scale

MCA：地球共生相互作用作为地球和环境系统的创新：生物活性、化学梯度和孔隙尺度矿物相之间的反馈

• 批准号: 2322428
• 负责人: Jasquelin Pena
• 金额: $ 44.89万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-10-01 至 2026-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2322428&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MCA; Geosymbiotic; interactions; innovation; Earth

Microbe-mineral interactions govern contaminant, carbon and nutrient transformation, and thus are critical to ecosystem function. Moreover, these biogeochemical interactions and their products can be harnessed to provide science-based solutions to many environmental and technological challenges. The goal of this project is to provide explicit spatially and temporally resolved rates and mechanisms of biogeochemical reactions in metal-microbe-mineral systems by developing new analytical and imaging tools. This project will provide research experiences to community college transfer students and underrepresented undergraduate students intending to pursue graduate degrees. The PI will leverage the creative advances facilitated by her MCA research to develop new educational products, including materials for a new laboratory-based course, “Microfluidics Labs”. Finally, this project will enhance research infrastructure through the addition of optical fluorescence and infrared microscopes to the X-ray microprobe beamline at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource as well as the development of new image analysis workflows. This project will develop analytical and imaging capabilities that shift the paradigm for studying biogeochemical transformations in confined spaces. The goal is to quantify the chemical and biological feedbacks that shape metal-microbe-mineral interactions. Using manganese biomineralization as a case study, the PI will provide spatially- and temporally-explicit measurements of biological activity (bioreporter gene fusions) and aqueous environmental conditions (optode sensor films) coupled to biofilm chemistry (FTIR) and metal speciation and mineral precipitation (X-ray fluorescence). This approach will provide unparalleled insight into chemical transformations that occur within a cell’s immediate environment. Determination of reaction rates and mechanisms through measurements of average properties often fail to reproduce macroscopic behavior or provide correct mechanisms; the focus on the chemistry occurring at the cellular level enable the researchers to develop accurate mechanistic rates. Additionally, the visualization of phenotypic heterogeneity within microbial communities and chemical transformations will deepen the understanding of geosymbiotic interactions in environmental systems.This project is jointly funded by the Geobiology and Low Temperature Geochemistry Program and the Division of Earth Sciences to support projects that increase research capabilities, capacity and infrastructure at a wide variety of institution types, as outlined in the GEO EMBRACE DCL.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.

微生物相互作用控制污染物，碳和营养转化，因此对生态系统功能至关重要。此外，可以利用这些生物地球化学互动及其产品为许多环境和技术挑战提供基于科学的解决方案。该项目的目的是通过开发新的分析和成像工具，在金属微型矿物质系统中提供明确的空间和临时解析的生物地球化学反应的速率和机制。该项目将为社区大学转学学生和旨在攻读研究生学位的本科生提供研究经验。 PI将利用其MCA研究制作的创意进步来开发新的教育产品，包括用于新的基于实验室的课程“微流体实验室”的材料。最后，该项目将通过在斯坦福同步子辐射光线以及新的图像分析工作流程的开发中添加光荧光和红外显微镜来增强研究基础架构。该项目将开发分析和成像功能，这些功能会改变范围内研究生物地球化学转换的范式。目的是量化塑造金属微型矿物质相互作用的化学和生物反馈。使用锰生物矿化作为案例研究，PI将在空间和临时解释的生物学活性（生物培养基基因融合）和水性环境条件（Optode Sensor膜）中，并与生物胶体化学（FTIR）以及金属的规格和矿物质沉淀（X射线荧光）耦合。这种方法将为细胞近距离环境中发生的化学转化提供无与伦比的见解。通过测量平均特性来确定反应速率和机制通常无法再现宏观行为或提供正确的机制；关注在细胞水平上发生的化学反应的重点使研究人员能够发展出准确的机械速率。此外，微生物群落和化学转化内表型异质性的可视化将加深对环境系统中的地球对称相互作用的理解。该项目由地球生物学和低温地球化学计划和低温地球化学计划以及地球科学划分以增加研究能力，能力和基础授予的项目，同时在各种各样的范围内授予地球科学，以此来促进研究的能力和基础。 NSF的法定使命，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来评估，被认为是宝贵的支持。