NSF Award
2212613
Algae have been a natural source of food, feeds and fertilizers for coastal communities for millennia. Modern biotechnology uses of algae in human systems have been rapidly expanding in scope and diversifying in application over the past few decades, in no small part due to the maintenance and availability of algae culture centers. The National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA) at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is a public resource whose mission is to promote, support, and enable the use of algae for foundational research, education, and commercial applications. For nearly four decades, the NCMA has provided this unique resource for researchers, students at all levels, educators and companies worldwide, all interested in working with microalgae to investigate fundamental questions in biology, global processes and biotechnology. This new research funding will continue to support the NCMA in its mission, and importantly expand the value of its algae holdings by supporting the compilation of new and existing data and information about each of the algae strains it holds. Professionally curated microalgae culture collections, from well-respected sources such as NCMA, are essential to support biological research in the United States.<br/><br/>The NCMA is one of a small number of culture collections focused on algal biodiversity, and the only one in the U.S. with a primary focus on marine microalgae. The NCMA curates ~2,800 distinct microalgal and ~1600 macroalgal strains isolated from around the world, with many of the algae in the NCMA Collection being unique and representing an irreplaceable genetic resource. The specific scientific objectives of this project are to 1) maximize curated biodiversity of marine microalgae, and expand macroalgae strain holdings; 2) expand high-throughput cryopreservation capabilities in order meet the increasing needs of a diversified user base; 3) generate phenotypic trait data for NCMA strains, namely photoheterotrophic growth capabilities and quantified toxin content; and 4) continue to expand our education/workforce portfolio. Studying curated algae from the NCMA collection provides a genomic, physiological and/or evolutionary compass; it essentially points external researchers in a direction that allows them to develop the appropriate hypotheses, models or diagnostic tools to investigate their questions in nature. Beyond curating algae, the NCMA curators and researchers generate essential research data on the characterization of its collection (e.g., growth rates and capabilities, biochemical characterization, etc.) creating great value to the broader scientific and entrepreneurial communities, and enabling rapid progress in this field.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
