This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.
The research and training plan is entitled "Tetraether lipid synthesis in Archaea." Archaeal lipids are unique in their structure and function and represent an important evolutionary marker. The proposed studies are directed towards elucidation of key enzymatic steps in the later part of the tetraether lipid synthesis pathway. Bioinformatic, molecular genetic, DNA microarray, and analytical chemical techniques are being employed to interrogate candidate gene functions using the extremely acidophilic archaeon Ferroplasma acidarmanus. The focus of the proposed research is how archaeal extremophiles are able to thrive in environments characterized by extremes in pH, temperature, and ionic strength by revealing the mechanism by which Archaea synthesize membrane lipids.
