分子世界里的海洋微生物生态学——未来的发展趋势

Morine microbial ecology in a molecular world:what does the future hold?

过去几十年中,遗传学和免疫学方法的进步改变了医学和生物制药学的研究。人类和几种模式生物的基因组已全部完成测序,这一遗传学信息财富的初步开发已经开始引起对这几种生物的研究及由此产生的应用的革命。得益于生物医学领域的技术进步带来的巨大便利,对微生物(包括海洋微生物)生态学的理解也紧随其后。通过这些新方法、新技术的应用,海洋微生物生态学已经从20世纪50、60年代海洋生物学和生物海洋学的小脚注变成了我们对海洋的兴趣焦点。在过去的半个世纪中,我们学到了大量关于海洋中微生物的丰度、分布和活性的知识。由于认识到海洋微生物异常丰富的多样性、它们在全球生物地球化学过程中所起的主导作用以及天然和工程微生物产品给人类带来益处的潜力,它们已成为科研和公众关注的中心,而且人们对这些海洋中微小生物的迷恋也不会迅速消退。最新的研究表明,我们对海洋生态系中微生物多样性广度的了解相当有限,而且,自然界中许多、或者说大多数海洋微生物的优势种还没有被引入实验室培养。因此,我们对这些物种的生化、生理和行为能力的认识还是懵懂的,并且,在可预见的未来,海洋微生物研究还将是海洋科学研究的主要焦点。随着很多领域的研究者转向这项工作,我们可以期待海洋微生物群落组成和功能方面将会有更多的新发现和范例出现。

Advances in genetic and immunological approaches during the last few decades have transformed medicine and biomedical research. The human genome and the genomes of numerous model organisms are now fully sequenced. Initial exploitation of this wealth of genetic information has begun to revolutionize research on these species, and the applications derived from it. Progress in understanding the ecology of microorganisms （including marine taxa） has followed closely on the heels of these advances, owing to the tremendous benefit afibrded by major technological advances in biomedicine. Through the application of these novel approaches and new technologies, marine microbial ecology has moved from a minor footnote within marine biology and biological oceanography during the 1950s and ‘60s to the focus of much of our present interest in the ocean. During the intervening half-century, we have learned a great deal regarding the overall abundances, distributions and activities of microorganisms in the sea. Recognition of the extraordinary diversity of marine microbes, the predominant role that they play in global biogeochemical processes, and the potential for natural or engineered microbial products to benefit humankind, has placed marine microbes in the spotlight of both scientific and popular attention. Our fascination with these minute denizens of the ocean is not likely to wane anytime soon. Recent studies have indicated that we still know relatively little about the breadth of microbial diversity in marine ecosystems. In addition, many （most） of the predominant marine microbial forms in nature have not yet been brought into laboratory culture. Thus, our knowledge is still rudimentary with respect to the spectra of biochemical, physiological and behavioral abilities of these species, and the study of marine microbes will remain a major focus of investigations in marine science well into the fore-seeable future. As a large cadre of researchers moves headlong into this work, we can expect many new discoveries and more paradigm shifts regarding tile composition and marine microbial communities.