Community Proteomic Analysis of a Near-Shore Anoxic Basin: Saanich Inlet
EMSL Project ID
25674
Abstract
Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs; areas of low dissolved oxygen concentrations) play a major role in biogeochemical cycling within the world's oceans. They are major sinks for nitrogen and sources for the gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Microbial mediated biological activity associated with these systems impacts the productivity of the deep blue sea and the balance of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. For this reason, studies aimed at evaluating the phylogenetic variation and metabolic capacity of microbial communities within these systems have great promise to enhance our understanding of the patterns and processes that drive global biogeochemical phenomena in both aquatic and atmospheric compartments of the biosphere. To this end, we are seeking an EMSL users's agreement to conduct shotgun proteomic analysis targeting the metabolic diversity of indigenous microbial communities found in the near-shore anoxic basin of Saanich Inlet (British Columbia, Canada) with special consideration of marine crenarchaeal groups inhabiting the oxic-anoxic transition zone. Each year the inlet undergoes a cyclical process of stratification and mixing that results in a predictable pattern of seasonal anoxia recorded over many decades of chemical observation. We are in the process of generating 235 Mb of large insert genomic DNA sequence from fosmid libraries constructed along a spatial and temporal gradient capturing the genetic imprint of this stratification cycle throughout the 2006-2007 calendar year. We will use this genomic sequence data in association with relevant marine microbial reference genomes to characterize dynamic changes in the metabolic state of the Saanich Inlet depth continuum as it transitions between stratified and mixed states. Our proteomic analyses will be accompanied by mass spectrometric gas analysis to quantitatively characterize the distribution of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other redox sensitive trace gases in relation to the taxonomic and functional diversity of microbes within the vertical depth continuum. This work will open a functional genomic window into the biogeochemical processes at work in marine oxygen minimum zones around the globe, in addition to identifying and describing key microbial players and biochemical pathways contributing to carbon and nitrogen metabolism within the enclosed near-shore basin.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2007-08-01
End Date
2010-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Hallam SJ, AP Page, L Constan, YC Song, AD Norbeck, HM Brewer, and L Pasa-Tolic. 2011. "Molecular tools for investigating ANME community structure and function." Chapter 4 in Methods in Enzymology, Part A, vol. 494, ed. AC Rosenzweig and SW Ragsdale, pp. 75-90. Elsevier/Academic Press, Amsterdam, Netherlands.