Mechanism of Mucilage Formation in the North Adriatic Sea: A Component of CREICO (Cooperative Research on Ecological Interactions in the Coastal Oceans)

拟议的研究是亚得里亚海沿岸海洋生态相互作用合作研究（CREICO）项目的一个组成部分。这项国际倡议的目的是发展克罗地亚、斯洛文尼亚、意大利和美国之间在亚得里亚海环境科学方面的合作，并配合与NOAA共同开发的亚得里亚海观测系统（CAOS）。CREICO旨在增加对亚得里亚海生态系统结构和功能的理解，以及系统对扰动的响应。CREICO的重点是“开花现象”及其原因和后果。该建议侧重于粘液现象（mare sporco）。在过去的3个世纪里，亚得里亚海北部沿岸出现了大量的“粘液”堆积，影响了意大利、斯洛文尼亚和克罗地亚的海岸。原因仍然是个谜。粘液事件损害了当地的渔业和旅游业。在科学上，大量的有机质积累为研究碳生物地球化学变化的生态系统水平机制提供了机会，北亚得里亚海提供了一个天然的“实验室”。预测黏液事件将是对海洋碳生物地球化学模型的一个很好的检验。当浮游植物大量繁殖产生的有机物最终形成粘液时，Azam博士假设细菌处理浮游植物生物量，以产生缓慢的？对多糖的降解起着重要作用。他们将测试细菌产生慢？在相应的生态系统条件下，降解溶解的和胶体的有机物（包括细菌荚膜物质和渗出物）及其聚集形成粘液。这项工作将与Serena Fonda合作完成。乌马尼（意大利），维拉·祖蒂奇（克罗地亚）和瓦伦蒂娜·特克（斯洛文尼亚）。他们会在方达？乌马尼实验室（意大利的里雅斯特）通过微扰实验来测试假设。此外，他们将利用计划中的两个15？d邮轮。细菌研究将使用分子方法来探索物种？在粘液产生和分解中的特定作用。多糖结构分析将寻求细菌生化特征与多糖利用率之间的关系。阿扎姆博士和他的实验室一直在与意大利、斯洛文尼亚和克罗地亚的海洋科学家和学生就粘液研究、研究和培训进行非正式合作。这项研究将增加这种合作；它将解决一个长？长期存在的海洋学问题，具有发现与全球变化研究相关的碳循环基本原理的潜力。

The proposed research is a component of CREICO (Cooperative Research on Ecological Interactions in the Coastal Oceans) program in the Adriatic Sea. This international initiative is intended to develop cooperation between Croatia, Slovenia, Italy and the US in environmental science in the Adriatic, in concert with Adriatic Observing System (CAOS) being developed with NOAA. CREICO is intended to increase understanding of the structure and function of ecological systems in the Adriatic, and the system response to perturbations. The focus of CREICO is on "bloom phenomena" and their causes and consequences. This proposal focuses on the mucilage phenomenon (mare sporco). Over the last 3 centuries, enormous accumulations of "mucilage" have occurred along the coasts of the northern Adriatic Sea, affecting the coasts of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia. The cause remains a mystery. Mucilage events damage local fisheries and tourism. Scientifically, the huge organic matter accumulation represents an opportunity to study the ecosystem level mechanisms of variability in the carbon biogeochemistry, and North Adriatic offers a natural "laboratory." Predicting the mucilage events would be an excellent test of models of oceanic carbon biogeochemistry.While phytoplankton blooms produce the organic matter that ultimately forms mucilage Dr. Azam hypothesizes that bacterial processing of phytoplankton biomass, to produce slow?to-degrade polysaccharide plays a significant role. They will test hypotheses on bacterial production of slow?to-degrade dissolved and colloidal organic matter (including bacterial capsular material and exudates) and its aggregation to form mucilage under relevant ecosystem conditions. This work will be done in collaboration with Serena Fonda?Umani (Italy), Vera Zutic (Croatia) and Valentina Turk (Slovenia). They will use mesocosms (in Fonda?Umani lab in Trieste, Italy) to test hypotheses through perturbation experiments. Further, they will take advantage of the planned two 15?d cruises. Bacterial studies will use molecular approaches, to explore species?specific roles in mucilage production and decomposition. Polysaccharide structure analysis will seek relationships between bacterial biochemical profiles and polysaccharide utilizability. Dr. Azam and his lab have been informally collaborating with Italian, Slovenia and Croatian marine scientists and students on mucilage studies, in research and training. This research will increase this collaboration; it will address a long?standing oceanographic problem, with potential of discovering fundamental principles of carbon cycling of relevance to research on global change.