Title  : NSF 96-96 Dear Colleague
Type   : Letter
NSF Org: BIO
Date   : June 3, 1996
File   : nsf9696

                                                                May 30, 1996




Dear Colleague:

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) at the
National Science Foundation has a long history of supporting
research in microbial biology. This letter is to inform the
community of U. S. scientists that BIO seeks to encourage
research on microorganisms, especially prokaryotes and
filamentous fungi, that occupy diverse habitats.  BIO
recognizes that basic research studies on previously
neglected or presently unknown microbes will lead to
outcomes that exceed our ability to predict, and  that some
of these outcomes will have lasting impact on our society.

The American Academy of Microbiology refers to microbial
diversity as "The Unseen Natural Resource."  Microbes are
found everywhere, occupying habitats as diverse as farmland
and marshland, plants and animals, deserts and oceans,
volcanic lakes and the Antarctic.  Although about 3100
species of bacteria are listed in Bergey's Manual, estimates
place the actual number of extant species at 300,000 to 1
million. To date, the resources in the United States to
study microbes have been overwhelmingly concentrated on
microbes that negatively affect human, animal, and plant
health, and on a small set of model system organisms.  BIO
regards the vast, understudied and largely unknown, diverse
microbial biomass and interacting systems as a new world of
opportunity to discover more about our "Unseen Natural
Resource."  BIO's goal in microbial biology is to increase
knowledge of the biochemical, genetic, physiological and
ecological properties and processes that enable diverse
microbes to occupy and interact in natural and disturbed
habitats.

Proposal submissions are encouraged from individual
investigators, as well as small groups of investigators
focused on a single project.  The scope of research
encouraged will include but not be limited to:

  studies of microbial, metabolic and structural
features that allow growth and survival in unusual,
natural environments;
  studies of the mechanistic basis of interactions among
microbes and of microbes with other cohabiting
species;
  studies of genes and environmental factors that
influence the frequency of genetic exchange between
microorganisms in natural environments;
  studies of the diversity of microbial processes for
anaerobic and aerobic flow of energy and cycling of
nutrients in water/water and air/water interfaces of
streams, the rhizosphere/phylosphere of plants, and
the sediments of lakes and wetlands;
  development of instrumentation, chemical, biological
and computational methods that enhance the study of
microorganisms in their natural environment, and the
management and analysis of data.

Proposals may be submitted to all program areas (see target
dates for applicable Division program )  within the
Divisions of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences,
Environmental Biology, Integrative Biology and
Neurosciences, and Biological Instrumentation and Resources.
Information about programs and NSF staff to contact is
available on the Internet on the NSF BIO homepage
(http://www.nsf.gov:80/bio/start.htm).

Sincerely,




Mary E. Clutter
Assistant Director
Biological Sciences