Microbes great challenge to MSU scientist- NSF awards $5 million for study

Imagine a creature about 1 million times smaller than you are, a creature so small that 1,000 of them could fit snugly on the head of a pin.

By MIKE STARK
Gazette Wyoming Bureau

Now imagine that it’s your job to understand how they’re put together and then answer one of the most pressing questions in science.

Sound like fun? Dave Ward thinks so.

Ward, a professor of microbial ecology at Montana State University in Bozeman, will be leading a team of scientists in the coming years to study the colorful microbes in Yellowstone National Park to find out whether they belong to a single, large gene pool or whether microbes, like larger animals, adapt to their environments through smaller, distinct gene pools.

"This is a very hot topic these days," said Ward, who has been studying Yellowstone microbes for more than 25 years.

The National Science Foundation on Wednesday announced that it has put up $5 million to answer that question by studying microbes in Yellowstone.

"Resolving this question is one of the greatest challenges in all of science," said Matt Kane, director of the NSF’s microbial observatories program. "And where better to conduct this study than Yellowstone? The variety of environmental gradients and habitats probably harbors more microbial diversity than any other single site on our planet."

The Yellowstone project was one of six chosen from 114 applications. All are aimed at answering fundamental biological questions that help scientists achieve breakthroughs and move on to new frontiers, according to the NSF.

There has been debate for years over the lives of microbes worldwide. In Yellowstone, they grow in vibrantly colored mats that thrive in the extreme environments of the park’s hot springs.

For years, many scientists have believed that the tiny creatures swap bits of their genomes — the life codes that make up living things. Instead of simply passing genes between parents and offspring, the swapping would occur "horizontally" between microbes.

"Bacteria have a way of throwing their genes around," Ward said.

One scientific view is that microbes would have inherited genes from so many sources that, eventually, they would exist as part of one larger melting pot of genes and wouldn’t diverge from one another. That would also mean that essentially one microbe could live almost anywhere that another lives.

But scientists have shown that microbes living in unique environments, such as Yellowstone, have evolved to survive in distinct habitats and places — including in different temperatures and exposures to light — using specialized sets of genes.

That view of evolutionary diversity, Ward said, is no different than ones governing other species like elk or wolves.

Ward, the NSF and others are hoping the five-year study in Yellowstone will settle the dispute.

In order to answer the question, researchers will take samples of the green and orange microbial mats at different temperatures, primarily from Mushroom spring near the Great Fountain geyser area.

The DNA from the mats will be extracted and analyzed to get an understanding of the individual microbes and bacteria community as a whole.

The cataloging and comparing of DNA extracted from an environment, a process called metagenomics, will help scientists understand whether there are distinct "species-like populations" living in the same community.

A key piece of information will be understanding how quickly genes are passed back and forth between microbes, Ward said.

If the genes flow rapidly, it could erase any divergence that may be happening inside an organism as it tries to adapt to its environment. If the transfer is slow, then the microbes are more likely to be able to change themselves to suit where they’re living.

"That’s the big question, is it fast or not?" Ward said.

Once scientists have a clearer understanding about the makeup of microbes, they’ll be better equipped to answer questions about the larger role of microbes in the environment and be more accurate in predicting how microbes can be used for human applications.

For example, some microbes can be used to help clean up polluted soil or water. But if scientists don’t know exactly what makes the microbes tick, it can be difficult to predict how they’re going to react in specific situations, Ward said.

Portions of the new study will be incorporated into new educational displays at the Old Faithful Visitor Center and other places in the park. In the coming years, microbes will take a higher profile in Yellowstone, both for researchers and for visitors.

"At first blush, visitors are impressed by the mammals and diversity on a large scale," said Diane Chalfont, the park’s chief of interpretation. But, she added, "microbes are part of the huge fabric that makes up Yellowstone National Park."

Ward said he believes that the research could open an entirely new view of the mysterious and colorful critters lurking in those hot environments.

It’s been commonly noted that researchers only understand about one percent of the bacteria growing in Yellowstone’s hot springs. Ward said that might be an underestimation.

"We probably know less than one in a million," he said. "This is pretty wild stuff."

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