Matthew Kane
MCB Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences
BIO Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date:
January 1, 2006
Expires:
December 31, 2011 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:
$834296
Investigator(s):
David Kirchman kirchman@udel.edu (Principal Investigator)
Matthew Cottrell (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:
University of Delaware
210 Hullihen Hall
Newark, DE 19716 302/831-2136
NSF Program(s):
MICROBIAL GENOME SEQUENCING, BE: NON-ANNOUNCEMENT RESEARCH, MICRO OBS & MICRO INTER & PRO
Field Application(s):
0000099 Other Applications NEC
Program Reference Code(s):
BIOT, 9150, 9104, 7187, 1629, 1089
Program Element Code(s):
7187, 1629, 1089
ABSTRACT
The carbon cycle and other biogeochemical processes in the oceans were thought to be controlled nearly entirely by two types of marine microbes: 1) phototrophs - microbes which, like plants, synthesize organic material using CO2 and other plant nutrients while producing oxygen; and 2) heterotrophs - microbes which, like animals, oxidize organic material back to CO2 and other plant nutrients while using oxygen. Recent studies using molecular approaches have discovered some novel microbes--photoheterotrophs--that combine phototrophy with heterotrophy. Photoheterotrophy would fundamentally alter our understanding of the carbon cycle and other biogeochemical processes in aquatic ecosystems.
This project would establish a Microbial Observatory (MO) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight to address questions about the diversity, abundance, and activity of photoheterotrophic microbes. The project will sequence relevant genes of photoheterotrophic microbes to characterize their diversity and metabolism. Abundance will be estimated by flow cytometry (cyanobacteria), infra-red microscopy of bacteriochlorophyll (AAP bacteria), and fluorescence in situ hybridization with polyribonucleotide probes targeting proteorhodopsin genes. Consumption of various organic compounds and CO2 will be assayed at the single cell level using microautoradiography together with fluorescence microscopy.
Broader Impacts This proposed MO project would offer several unique opportunities to contribute to the education of students and the general public in aquatic microbial ecology and environmental microbiology. The project will involve graduate students via a growing connection between the University of Delaware and The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR). Undergraduates from Lincoln University, the nation's oldest historical black college, will conduct independent research in the summer in Delaware. Dr. Kirchman's lab is featured during weekly tours of University of Delaware facilities in Lewes (about 1000 visitors per year) and during Coast Day, an annual open-house in Lewes that attracts about 10,000 visitors.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
Campbell, B., L.A. Waidner, M.T. Cottrell, and D.L. Kirchman. "Abundant proteorhodopsin genes in the North Atlantic Ocean," Environmental Microbiology, 2007.
Campbell, B., L.A. Waidner, M.T. Cottrell, and D.L. Kirchman. "Abundant proteorhodopsin genes in the North Atlantic Ocean," Environmental Microbiology, v.10, 2008, p. 99.
Cottrell, M.T. and D.L. Kirchman. "Carbon cycling by microbes influenced by light in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean," Aquatic Microbial Ecology, v.50, 2008, p. 239.
Cottrell, MT; Mannino, A; Kirchman, DL. "Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria in the Mid-Atlantic Bight and the North Pacific Gyre," APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, v.72, 2006, p. 557-564.
Micelou, V., M.T. Cottrell, D.L. Kirchman. "Light-Stimulated Bacterial Production and Amino Acid Assimilation by Cyanobacteria and Other Microbes in the North Atlantic Ocean," Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v.73, 2007, p. 5539.
Waidner, L.A. and D.L. Kirchman. "Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria Attached to Particles in Turbid Waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake Estuaries," Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v.73, 2007, p. 3936.
Waidner, L.A. and D.L. Kirchman. "Diversity, distribution and expression of distinct ecotypes of the aerobic anoxygenic phototrophy gene, pufM, in the Delaware estuary," Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v.74, 2008, p. 4012.
Waidner, L.A. and D.L. Kirchman. "Aerobic Anoxygenic Phototrophic Bacteria Attached to Particles in Turbid Waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake Estuaries," Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v.73, 2007, p. 3936.
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