| NSF Org: |
OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | January 23, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 23, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1657639 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Henrietta Edmonds
hedmonds@nsf.gov (703)292-7427 OCE Division Of Ocean Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | January 31, 2020 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $494,988.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $494,988.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1 NASSAU HALL PRINCETON NJ US 08544-2001 (609)258-3090 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
Guyot Hall, Washington Road Princeton NJ US 08544-1033 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Chemical Oceanography |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
Organic molecules that bind and transport iron are called siderophores. Because iron is an essential trace element for biological systems and exists at very, very low concentrations in the open ocean, siderophores perform a critical role in capturing iron for cellular function. It is known that marine bacteria can produce two different types of siderophores that either tightly bind iron or only weakly do so, with different ecological consequences. This researcher will leverage an exceptional career on metal-organism interactions to examine the unsolved question of exactly what environmental and biochemical conditions (for example the availability of iron) control bacterial production of various siderophores. Results will generate significant new understanding of a critical chemical oceanographic process, and cap this researcher's groundbreaking discoveries that have built to this project. Funding for this research will also support the advancement of women in science by both providing the highest quality training of a female scientist and providing the opportunity for her to host an oceanography booth at the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab's "Young Women in Science" conference.
This study will use Vibrio harveyi as a model organism to investigate a variety of questions surrounding the marine bacterial production of weak and strong siderophores. To start, the investigation will look into how siderophore production is controlled by varying iron availability and quorum sensing (i.e. a coordinated response correlated to population density and/or certain signaling molecules). This also includes in-depth investigation of the impact of life phase and biochemical changes with growth as they relate to coordinated use of weak and strong siderophores. Using established protocols for genetic manipulation of V. harveyi, the researcher plans to discover how varying combinations of weak and strong siderophores maximize the uptake of iron. The broader biogeochemical implications of this study to the field of chemical oceanography, with regard to the microbial use of, and cellular responses to, many essential micronutrients in the ocean would be to significantly influence understanding of elemental distributions beyond the specific study of iron and siderophore cycling in the ocean.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Project title:
Iron Uptake by Marine Bacteria: Regulation and Function of Weak and Strong Siderophores.
P.I. Francois M. M. MOREL
Princeton University
A variety of small molecules produced by microorganisms are exported into their external medium. These extracellular metabolites are used for various purposes such as taking up chemicals from the environment, sharing information (chemical talk), warfare, and cooperation between organisms. This project dealt with two classes of such compounds: 1) siderophores, which are used to take up essential iron from the environment, and 2) quorum sensing molecules, which are used to share information about the surrounding concentration of similar organisms (a sort of census for microbes).
Highlights of the project include:
1) The identification of several siderophores produced by important soil microbes including one with a chemical structure never previously reported;
2) The demonstration that some siderophores are used for taking up metals other than iron, in particular molybdenum and vanadium which are used in the biological fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere;
3) The design of a new culture medium that allows the study of marine bacteria at the very low iron concentrations present in natural ocean water;
4) The demonstration that, when they are present in large numbers, marine bacteria use quorum sensing to avoid overproducing siderophores in their surroundings.
This project partly supported 4 undergraduate student, 1 graduate student and 2 postdoctoral associates.
Last Modified: 02/21/2020
Modified by: Francois M Morel
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