RUI: Stability and structure of temperate and tropical marine sponge symbiont communities in response to climate change.

RUI：温带和热带海洋海绵共生群落响应气候变化的稳定性和结构。

• 批准号: 0647119
• 负责人: Malcolm Hill
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Richmond
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-03-01 至 2011-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0647119&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RUI; Stability; structure; temperate; tropical

This project will examine symbiotic associations between sponges and their microflora and the consequences of increased sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on these symbiont communities. Projected increases in SSTs over the next 100 years indicate that stressful conditions will intensify in many marine habitats and that the destructive effects on communities will become more severe. While sponges are recognized for the vital ecological roles they perform, they remain an understudied group in terms of their response to climate change. The experiments will advance our understanding of important aspects of host-symbiont associations, and the ecological consequences of warmer oceans, for marine sponges with temperate and tropical distributions. Two major types of sponge symbioses will be examined. First, sponge zooxanthellar associations will be used to test important hypotheses regarding the dynamics of symbioses involving these dinoflagellates. Second, sponge-bacterial associations will be used to study ecological consequences of increased SSTs. The project will develop Sponge-symbiont associations as model systems for understanding ecological and evolutionary aspects of multiple partner associations using field and laboratory experiments. Additionally, these sponges will be used to explore the molecular integration of host and symbiont partners via studies of differential gene expression. The experiments will link dynamic interactions at three levels of organization (i.e., the gene, the individual symbiont and/or host, and the community). Zooxanthellae perform vital physiological functions for these sponges but major gaps exist in our understanding of the flexibility in these associations and their response to increased SSTs. Microbial symbionts have also been found to enhance sponge growth rates, translocate carbon, fix nitrogen, and produce important secondary metabolites. SSTs increases may lead to a reduction in the ability of sponges to produce secondary metabolites of ecological and pharmaceutical interest. This research will involve undergraduates in hands-on field and laboratory research and they will benefit from the collaborative nature of the project. The investigators will integrate these studies into their training of undergraduates and graduate while all resources generated during this project will be freely and widely disseminated.

该项目将检查海绵与其菌群之间的共生关联，以及这些共生群落对海面温度（SSTS）升高的后果。 预计在未来100年内SST的增加表明，在许多海洋栖息地中，压力状况会加剧，并且对社区的破坏性影响将变得更加严重。尽管海绵的生态作用被认可，但就其对气候变化的反应而言，它们仍然是一个研究的群体。这些实验将提高我们对宿主 - 共生关联的重要方面的理解，以及温暖海洋的生态后果，对于温带和热带分布的海洋海绵。 将检查两种主要类型的海绵共生。首先，海绵Zooxanthellar关联将用于检验有关涉及这些鞭毛藻的共生动力学的重要假设。 其次，海绵细菌关联将用于研究SST增加的生态后果。 该项目将开发海绵 - 伴侣关联作为模型系统，用于使用现场和实验室实验来理解多个伴侣关联的生态和进化方面。 此外，这些海绵将通过研究差异基因表达来探索宿主和共生伴侣的分子整合。 实验将在组织的三个级别（即基因，单个共生体和/或宿主以及社区）上链接动态相互作用。 Zooxanthellae对这些海绵发挥了重要的生理功能，但是在我们对这些关联的灵活性及其对SST增加的反应的理解中存在主要差距。 还发现微生物共生体可提高海绵的生长速率，易位碳，固定氮并产生重要的二级代谢产物。 SSTS的增加可能导致海绵产生生态和药物兴趣的继发代谢产物的能力。 这项研究将涉及动手领域和实验室研究的本科生，它们将从项目的协作性质中受益。研究人员将将这些研究纳入他们对本科生和毕业生的培训，而本项目期间产生的所有资源将被自由传播。