HUMADE

Structural and functional biodiversity of humic matter degrading freshwater microbial communities

Coordinatore	FORSCHUNGSVERBUND BERLIN E.V.    more  Organization address address: Rudower Chaussee 17 city: BERLIN postcode: 12489 contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Carla Cognome: Pinho Email: send email Telefono: +49 30 63923325
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Germany [DE]
Totale costo	62˙500 €
EC contributo	62˙500 €
Programma	FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	FP7-PEOPLE-2010-RG
Funding Scheme	MC-IRG
Anno di inizio	2011
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2011-05-01   -   2013-10-31

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	FORSCHUNGSVERBUND BERLIN E.V.  Organization address address: Rudower Chaussee 17 city: BERLIN postcode: 12489 contact info Titolo: Ms. Nome: Carla Cognome: Pinho Email: send email Telefono: +49 30 63923325	DE (BERLIN)	coordinator	62˙500.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Humic substances (HS) are complex and heterogeneous mixtures of polymers formed in soils, sediments and natural waters during the decay of plant biomass. HS represent an important carbon source in aquatic environments accounting for up to 80% of the total dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Historically, HS were considered to be biologically inert but discovery of the “microbial loop” changed this view in which DOC enters planktonic food webs through incorporation into bacterial biomass and protozoan grazing upon bacteria. Despite extensive research it is still not clear how exactly HS are converted and degraded by microorganisms in nature. We particularly lack a detailed understanding of the metabolic diversity present in a community that is used to attack the complex structure of these heterogeneous polymers. Based on current structural concepts it is assumed that HS cannot be degraded by simple enzymatic reactions but rather by a combination of different enzymes including peroxidases, phenol oxidases and many carbohydrate active enzymes. The proposed project aims to resolve the genomic and metabolic diversity of freshwater microbial communities involved in HS cycling using state of the art sequencing-based approaches. Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic approaches will be used to perform in-depth genomic analysis of freshwater microbial communities and to study their physiological response to HS based on gene-expression analysis. Different habitats and ecological niches will be sampled and analyzed to enable detailed comparative analysis (e.g. aerobic vs. anaerobic habitats). Considering the environmental and economic importance of HS it is very important to understand mechanisms involved in HS cycling in nature. The proposed project will provide the scientific community with a detailed description of microbial diversity and activity involved in freshwater HS cycling and the data will be a valuable foundation for future research in this field.'