College of Agriculture

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As the foundation of the land grant mission at Montana State University, the College of Agriculture and the Montana Agricultural Experiment Station provide instruction in traditional and innovative degree programs and conduct research on old and new challenges for Montana’s agricultural community. This integration creates opportunities for students and faculty to excel through hands-on learning, to serve through campus and community engagement, to explore unique solutions to distinct and interesting questions and to connect Montanans with the global community through research discoveries and outreach.

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Author: search.filters.author.Boyd, Eric S.Subject: search.filters.subject.Yellowstone

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    Relationships between fluid mixing, biodiversity, and chemosynthetic primary productivity in Yellowstone hot springs
    (Wiley, 2023-01) Fernandes‐Martins, Maria C.; Colman, Daniel R.; Boyd, Eric S.
    The factors that influence biodiversity and productivity of hydrothermal ecosystems are not well understood. Here we investigate the relationship between fluid mixing, biodiversity, and chemosynthetic primary productivity in three co-localized hot springs (RSW, RSN, and RSE) in Yellowstone National Park that have different geochemistry. All three springs are sourced by reduced hydrothermal fluid, but RSE and RSN receive input of vapour phase gas and oxidized groundwaters, with input of both being substantially higher in RSN. Metagenomic sequencing revealed that communities in RSN were more biodiverse than those of RSE and RSW in all dimensions evaluated. Microcosm activity assays indicate that rates of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) uptake were also higher in RSN than in RSE and RSW. Together, these results suggest that increased mixing of reduced volcanic fluid with oxidized fluids generates additional niche space capable of supporting increasingly biodiverse communities that are more productive. These results provide insight into the factors that generate and maintain chemosynthetic biodiversity in hydrothermal systems and that influence the distribution, abundance, and diversity of microbial life in communities supported by chemosynthesis. These factors may also extend to other ecosystems not supported by photosynthesis, including the vast subterranean biosphere and biospheres beneath ice sheets and glaciers.
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    Toward Better Genetically Encoded Sensors of Membrane Potential
    (2016-03) Urschel, Matthew R.; Hamilton, Trinity L.; Roden, Eric E.; Boyd, Eric S.
    Facultative autotrophs are abundant components of communities inhabiting geothermal springs. However, the influence of uptake kinetics and energetics on preference for substrates is not well understood in this group of organisms. Here, we report the isolation of a facultatively autotrophic crenarchaeote, strain CP80, from Cinder Pool (CP, 88.7°C, pH 4.0), Yellowstone National Park. The 16S rRNA gene sequence from CP80 is 98.8% identical to that from Thermoproteus uzonensis and is identical to the most abundant sequence identified in CP sediments. Strain CP80 reduces elemental sulfur (S8°) and demonstrates hydrogen (H2)-dependent autotrophic growth. H2-dependent autotrophic activity is suppressed by amendment with formate at a concentration in the range of 20–40 μM, similar to the affinity constant determined for formate utilization. Synthesis of a cell during growth with low concentrations of formate required 0.5 μJ compared to 2.5 μJ during autotrophic growth with H2. These results, coupled to data indicating greater C assimilation efficiency when grown with formate as compared to carbon dioxide, are consistent with preferential use of formate for energetic reasons. Collectively, these results provide new insights into the kinetic and energetic factors that influence the physiology and ecology of facultative autotrophs in high-temperature acidic environments.
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