The availability of genome sequences provides the foundation for understanding how microorganisms function and live, and how they interact with their environments. Ocean microbes are thought to represent one of the greatest untapped sources of biodiversity. However, sub-disciplines studying marine prokaryote microbes, such as bacteria, are much further advanced than those studying more recently evolved unicellular eukaryotic life forms. Large and well-established prokaryote databases are available due to many recent concerted research efforts, while baseline genomic information for marine microscopic eukaryotes is far less advanced. Frequently used molecular methods to evaluate taxonomic diversity provide limited information on potential ecological roles or function of identified organisms. The program described here is designed to obtain large quantities of detailed DNA sequence data linked to known organisms. Data will be obtained for four previously understudied marine taxa from the Kingdoms Euglenozoa, Alveolata, Stramenopila and Cercozoa. These more detailed data will significantly increase genomic information on environmental microbial eukaryotes in the public domain and begin to allow detailed studies of relationships between and among prokaryote and eukaryote taxa. The sampling will take place at the University of Southern California's (USC) well-studied oceanographic time series station in the San Pedro channel, where the research team will have access to abundant biological and chemical data collected by other scientists working at the same site. This study holds tremendous promise to unlock an area of marine microbial research not well studied and will help to advance the state of knowledge within the field of marine microbiology and marine metagenomics.
In addition to basic research, the project will also have several significant broader educational impacts. Genomics is a rapidly developing field that is often misunderstood by the general population. The information resulting from the research will enhance teaching curriculum and will provide opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate level research. The research team will partner with USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies (WIES) educators working to develop broad based educational outreach programs for K through grey audiences. The WEIS program is an extraordinary platform for education, and the work is ideally suited to enhance their existing programs. The research team will also participate directly in an ongoing teacher education enhancement program (the NSF funded Centers for Ocean Science Education Excellence; COSEE-West) run by the USC Wrigley Institute, UCLA and several informal science partners. The COSEE-West program has a proven track record for reaching middle and high school students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, most of whom are economically disadvantaged Hispanic, African-American or other ethnic minorities. In cooperation with COSEE-West, the research and education teams will develop modules to add to existing teacher enhancement and student enrichment projects. Finally, all data will be summarized on a dedicated San Pedro Ocean Time Series website with links from all team member websites.
