Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Biogeography wikipedia , lookup
Effects of global warming on oceans wikipedia , lookup
Ocean acidification wikipedia , lookup
Marine debris wikipedia , lookup
Raised beach wikipedia , lookup
Marine microorganism wikipedia , lookup
Marine life wikipedia , lookup
Marine habitats wikipedia , lookup
The Marine Mammal Center wikipedia , lookup
Marine pollution wikipedia , lookup
Marine biology wikipedia , lookup
Ecosystem of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre wikipedia , lookup
GW4 Training Partnership Evolution and diversity of novel marine nitrogen-fixing organisms and their impact on global climate University Supervisor: Dr Fanny Monteiro & Dr Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo (University of Bristol) Dr Andy Rees PML Supervisor: Scientific background/rationale and significance: Ocean phytoplankton are key in regulating the marine ecosystem and climate. Particularly important are phytoplankton which can fix atmospheric N2 into a bio- available source of nitrogen such as ammonium. Because nitrogen is the dominant limiting nutrient in the ocean, nitrogen fixers are crucial in supporting marine productivity and thus regulating our climate via the uptake and sequestration of atmospheric CO2. Unicellular N2 fixers have been shown to play a key role and within this group new symbiotic species have been discovered. Interestingly these micro-organisms have undergone genome reduction as a result of establishing symbiotic associations with unicellular algae hosts. A trend in genome reduction likely reflects adaptation of the host to grow in nutrient-poor environments such as the mid-ocean gyres which are geographically dominant. These findings offer an exciting opportunity to study the evolution of nitrogen fixers and their impact on past and present marine life, global nutrient cycles and climate. . Research methodology: This project aims to study how genomic differences of newly discovered nitrogen fixers and their closest relatives, and how these differences are reflected into their ecological niches (e.g., coastal versus open ocean). The student will mainly employ comparative analyses using genomic data to determine how genetic differences (e.g., gene structure, gene content) relate to ecological differences, geographical distribution and past climatic events. The student will also have the opportunity to use the already developed MIT-Darwin model [Monteiro et al., 2010] to perform numerical investigations of the diversity and importance of these novel organisms to fuelling life in the ocean. This project stands out for its inter-disciplinary nature, novelty and expert supervisory panel, and is a great opportunity for any students interested in marine biology, evolution and climate. Training: The student will be mostly based at Bristol University and she/he will do a rotation in the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (one month per year). The successful candidate will learn skills from two different highly-complementary fields: 1) She/he will learn about bioinformatics to generate new and uniquely integrated datasets of phytoplankton and to analyze applying comparative methods. This includes the basics of computer programming (Shell scripting and either PERL or Python). All these skills are highly transferable to industry. We have budgeted for the following training opportunity: • International School on Computational Molecular Evolution, Greece 2) She/he will have the potential to learn to use and develop complex marine ecosystem models using the innovative and successful MIT-Darwin model (http://darwinproject.mit.edu/). This model represents the diversity of the marine ecosystem by letting the ocean environment directly selects for the marine species. The student will be training in computer programming (Fortran, Matlab and Python) and in parallel computing on high-performance computers (using NERC and University of Bristol HPCs). We have budgeted for the following training opportunity: • Earth System Science Spring School in the UK This project will also involve a visit to Prof Jon Zehr laboratory at the University of California in Santa Cruz (USA). His internationally recognised research team has led to the discovery some of the latest marine species of nitrogen fixers. The student will have the opportunity to discuss the ecology and modern distribution of nitrogen fixers with the Zehr lab as well as learn about the techniques needed to analyse marine organisms in situ (flow cytometry, metagenomics and molecular ecology). This visit will assist with both the genomics and modelling aspects of this interdisciplinary project.