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.

该项目将研究海绵与其微生物区系之间的共生关系，以及海洋表面温度(SST)升高对这些共生体群落的影响。预计未来100年SST的增加表明，许多海洋栖息地的紧张状况将加剧，对社区的破坏性影响将变得更加严重。虽然海绵因其重要的生态作用而得到认可，但就其对气候变化的反应而言，它们仍然是一个研究不足的群体。这些实验将增进我们对寄主-共生关系的重要方面的理解，以及海洋变暖对温带和热带分布的海绵的生态影响。我们将研究两种主要类型的海绵共生体。首先，海绵虫黄鞭毛协会将被用来检验关于涉及这些恐鞭毛虫的共生动态的重要假设。其次，海绵-细菌协会将被用于研究SSTs增加的生态后果。该项目将开发海绵-共生体协会，作为利用实地和实验室实验了解多个伙伴协会的生态和进化方面的模型系统。此外，这些海绵将用于通过差异基因表达的研究来探索宿主和共生体伙伴的分子整合。这些实验将在三个组织层面(即基因、个体共生体和/或宿主以及社区)将动态相互作用联系起来。虫黄藻对这些海绵具有重要的生理功能，但我们对这些联系的灵活性及其对SSTs增加的反应的理解存在重大差距。微生物共生体还被发现可以提高海绵的生长速度，转移碳，固定氮，并产生重要的次生代谢物。SSTs的增加可能会导致海绵产生具有生态和药用价值的次生代谢物的能力降低。这项研究将让本科生参与实践的实地和实验室研究，他们将从该项目的合作性质中受益。调查人员将把这些研究纳入他们对本科生和研究生的培训，同时在这个项目期间产生的所有资源都将自由和广泛地传播。