Project Grant 2149070

This $262,492 National Science Foundation project grant supports collaborative research on adaptations of Southern Ocean diatoms to manganese scarcity. The awardee, University of Hawaii at Manoa, will work with early career investigators to explore manganese limitation in Antarctic diatoms through culture experiments with three Antarctic and one temperate diatom species. Using physiological, transcriptomic, and biochemical approaches, the investigators will address their central hypothesis that diatoms from the Southern Ocean possess mechanisms for low manganese and high zinc environments. They aim to quantify uptake rates and transporter binding constants under various micronutrient treatments and irradiances. Transcriptomics will help identify genes providing adaptive mechanisms. Results will help parameterize models of micronutrient limitation in the Southern Ocean. This award furthers the National Science Foundation's Polar Programs mission under the CFDA 47.078 program to support basic research best conducted in or on polar regions through increased scientific understanding.