Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Polar Microbial Observatories in Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic coastal zones  (POLMICROBS)

Outline
Bacteria represent one of the most important compartments at the basis of all food webs in marine ecosystems. They respond clearly to environmental changes, and participate in all biogeochemical cycles. Therefore, they have many advantages to serve as a basis for any long term oceanic observation systems. In polar zones, little is known about bacterial communities, including their species composition, physiological and genetic characteristics, and the link between microbial diversity and biogeochemical activities remain poorly documented. Our major objective is to develop coastal “Microbial Observatories” in Antarctica and Sub-Antarctica in order to (i) explore bacterial diversity and function, (ii) understand factors controlling bacterial changes and (iii) follow and/or predict their evolution when subjected to short-term (pollution) or long-term (climate) environmental changes.An important query in developing “Microbial Observatories” is to define appropriate sampling strategies and analytical tools to evaluate spatial and temporal changes of bacterial diversity and function. The influence of sampling location together with short-term (days to weeks) and long-term (years) variation scales in bacterioplankton and sediment bacterial communities will be evaluated during summer periods in both Antarctic (“Adelie coast”) and Sub-Antarctic (“Kerguelen”) coastal zones. The role of bacterial diversity and function to the net flow of carbon driven from ocean into atmosphere (CO2) will be estimated at both sites. The impact of global changes on the role of bacteria in ecosystem functioning will be assessed from both in situ annual following and simulation experiments.“Microbial Observatories” are also necessary tools to evaluate the consequences of pollution in the variations of structure and function of polar ecosystems. The Antarctic can no longer be considered as a pristine environment because contaminations have affected many coastal marine and terrestrial areas. Of all the different types of contamination reported up to now in Antarctic zones, petroleum has been identified as the most significant problem. Investigations on Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic bacterial community changes will provide predictive evolution of these polar ecosystems after petroleum pollution. Moreover, exploration of hydrocarbon degrading biodiversity will give candidate for biotechnological exploitation as biosensor for in situ surveys of hydrocarbon in polar ecosystems.In addition to basic oceanographic parameters, a variety of powerful techniques, ranging from modern genomic to flow cytometry, will be adapted to the extreme polar environment. Special interest will be given in methods linking bacterial diversity and function such as 16S rRNA and rDNA sequences comparisons, functional targeted genes or stable-isotope probing coupled with molecular fingerprinting. Genetic tools will be used for hydrocarbon biosensor construction.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This proposal is designed to address IPY theme #1, priority 3. Specifically, the proposal addresses the short- and long-term variations of structure and functioning of Antarctica and Sub-Antarctica coastal ecosystems, by identifying microorganisms responsible for key steps in the carbon cycle. The development of “Microbial Observatories” will provide synoptic views of modern environmental status and will enhance observational network for annual time series measurements in these coastal zones. Moreover, the response of these ecosystems to artificial hydrocarbon pollution will provide relation between natural and anthropogenic variation causes. This project also addresses indirectly theme #4, priority 4 and 6.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The POLMICROBS consortium is formed by 7 contractors which have complementary expertise on oceanography, ecology, biogeochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology, toxicology, chemistry and biochemistry. This consortium is composed by researchers originated from 5 countries: France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Canada and India. Some of the partners have already worked together within previous international programs

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Microbial Observatories will be installed in two different coastal areas :- Kerguelen (Sub-Antarctic) : Morbihan bay- Adélie coast (Antarctic) : Dumont-D’Urville coastal areas

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: 01/07 – 03/07 (if possible *)      01/08 – 03/08      01/09 – 03/09

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
For both Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic coast, we will need :- A zodiac boat for sampling at different coastal areas.- A laboratory for biological experiment in sterile conditions (clean environment).

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
- One of the main contributions of this project is to set “Microbial Observatories” to initiate long-term database of interdisciplinary measurements in both Antarctic and Sub-Antarctic coastal zones. - Another contribution is to develop in situ biosensors giving information on the presence and bioavailability of hydrocarbon in polar environments.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Own national polar operator
National agency

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes - On the 10th of January 2005, the french committee of the International Polar Year, directed by Claude Lorius, has “endorsed” this project at a national level.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?


The collection of polar microbial strains and the study of their hydrocarbon degradation properties have been supported from several years by IPEV; program untitled : “Microbioker” (coordinator : D. Delille)

How will the project be organised and managed?
The coordinator of the project (J-F. Ghiglione) will assume overall management duties, including meeting organizations, reports and dissemination of results. A steering committee composed of the principal investigator of each defined workpackages will take decisions and monitor project progress. At least every year meetings will be used to review progress in terms of individual deliverables and milestones. The coordinator’s organization, the Oceanologic Observatory of Banyuls, is part of the largest public research organization in France (CNRS) and has considerable experience in managing R&D projects and training grants.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
The different partners will perform formal education for university students. Post-graduate students will be involved in the research and field experiments. Promotion of polar research will be done by the different partners though public talks, participation to international congress and publications in specialised or general revues.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
Other than meetings, a web page will be created for the project aiding in the fast exchange and display information. Public part of the web page will include explanations of the project, video records, protocols, reports, etc. Restricted access to the partners will be created for the course of the project to organise the large amount of data generated, but after the project finished, some of theses databases will be made available to third parties.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
This project will be fund by IPEV.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
None

PROPOSER DETAILS

Doctor – Research scientist Jean-François Ghiglione
CNRS
Oceanologic Observatory of Banyuls
UMR 7621 – BP 44 Banyuls sur mer
66650
France

Tel: 33-468887342
Mobile: 33-689379584
Fax: 33-68887698
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation