Collaborative Research: Origins and Spread of the Aspergillus-Gorgonian Coral Epizootic: Role of Climate and Environmental Facilitators

摘要-0326705/OCE-0326983/OCE-0326269/OCE-0326698最近珊瑚礁疾病暴发的高比率可能是由气候相关的压力或新病原体输入的增加引起的，或两者兼而有之。无法在海洋系统中使用传统的疾病管理方法(扑杀、接种疫苗、检疫)增加了了解和控制海洋疾病的紧迫性。对珊瑚疾病最实际的补救措施是控制投入物和传播。然而，我们不知道任何珊瑚病原体的来源，也不了解传播机制。曲霉-海扇珊瑚流行病是一个很好的模型系统，用来检验关于新出现的海洋疾病的起源、传播和抗药性在暴发中的相对重要性，特别是环境促进者的作用的假说。在这个项目中，康奈尔大学、北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校、南卡罗来纳大学和马里兰大学生物技术研究所的研究人员将通过一项结合实验和理论方法的研究计划来研究这一系统。其目的是(1)利用微卫星标记确定海扇曲霉病暴发的来源；(2)通过发展免疫学分析来评估宿主抵抗力的作用；(3)从实验上评估环境促进者在暴发中的作用；(4)评估感染风险的人口和空间决定因素；以及(5)开发疾病爆发和传播的预测理论，通过嵌入基于代理的框架中的珊瑚种群疾病传播的空间模型。该项目预计将产生广泛的教育和国际影响，因为这将丰富墨西哥阿库马尔的本科教学计划，并在实地和国内研究机构培训高中生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究员。这个项目的主要学术价值是将目前野生动物疾病的理论带入一个易于操作的热带海洋研究系统。该项目将通过寻求珊瑚礁管理的应用成果，并通过与美国国家海洋和大气局和世界银行有针对性的研究倡议的互动，在海洋，特别是珊瑚礁疾病的生态方面形成新的方向，来加强该项目。

ABSTRACTOCE-0326705 / OCE-0326983 / OCE-0326269 / OCE-0326698Recent high rates of disease outbreaks on coral reefs may be caused by climate-related stress, increased inputs of new pathogens, or both. The inability to use traditional methods of disease management in marine systems (culling, vaccination, quarantine) adds urgency to understanding and controlling disease in the ocean. The most practical remediation for coral disease is to control inputs and spread. Yet, we do not know the origin of any coral pathogen nor do we understand mechanisms of transmission. The aspergillus - sea fan coral epizootic is an excellent model system for testing hypotheses about the origins of emergent marine disease, the relative importance of transmission and resistance in outbreaks and particularly the role of environmental facilitators. In this project, researchers at Cornell University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute will investigate this system through a research program combining linked experimental and theoretical approaches. The objectives are (1) to determine the origins of the aspergillosis outbreak in sea fans, using microsatellite markers;(2) to evaluate the role of host resistance through development of immunological assays;(3) to evaluate experimentally the role of environmental facilitators in the outbreak;(4) to assess demographic and spatial determinants of infection risk; and(5) to develop a predictive theory of disease outbreak and spread through a spatial model for spread of disease in coral populations, embedded in an agent- based framework.The project is expected to have broad educational and international impacts because will enrich undergraduate teaching programs in Akumal, Mexico, and train high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at field sites and at the home research institutions. The primary intellectual merit of this project is bringing current theory in wildlife disease to a tropical marine study system that is easily manipulated. The project will be enhanced by seeking applied outcomes for management of coral reefs and forging new directions in the ecology of marine and particularly coral reef diseases through interactions with NOAA and World Bank targeted research initiatives.