EST Sequencing and Comparative Genomics of the Globally Significant Marine Phytoplankton Phaeocystis Globosa

球形棕囊藻是一种全球重要的海洋浮游植物物种，它形成大量的水华，将大量的碳输出到深海，并在这个过程中从大气中去除大量的二氧化碳。棕囊藻的不同寻常之处在于，它在单细胞和大的胶状菌落之间表现出生命周期的变化。这些不同的生活习惯可能会对整个食物网产生重大影响。例如，典型的鳍鱼渔业以浮游动物为食物。棕囊藻的水华可能会扰乱这种渔业，因为胶状菌落不能被浮游动物或鳍鱼吃掉。相反，棕囊藻变成了海洋食物网中不太受欢迎的成员的食物，比如水母，它们随后主导了这个生态系统。棕囊藻水华经常主宰北大西洋水域，影响渔业、养鱼和沿海旅游业，因为水华在水华崩溃时会产生气味浓烈的泡沫堆积在海滩上。密集的水华不利于贝类的生长和繁殖，并导致堵塞渔网、鱼类死亡和改变鱼味。棕囊藻的成功是生命周期阶段、一系列群体大小和捕食者激活的防御措施的结合，与竞争对手的浮游植物相比，这种防御措施降低了它的死亡率。因此，棕囊藻是研究海洋远洋生态系统复杂性的重要生物。将评估球藻对生态胁迫和刺激的分子水平(例如，基因表达)的反应。对表达基因的比较分析将开始产生关于这个重要物种的生物化学、生理学和生态学的新信息。此外，该项目的基因组和基因表达数据库将成为社区资源，并将支持许多关于海洋生态系统中这种关键生物的生态和进化的项目。此外，私人投资机构将为代表不足的群体的学生创造实习机会，以进行基因组学和生物信息学方面的培训。

Phaeocystis globosa is a globally important species of marine phytoplankton that forms massive blooms which export significant amounts of carbon to the deep sea and, in the process, remove a significant amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Phaeocystis is unusual in that it exhibits life cycle changes between solitary cells and large gelatinous colonies. These different life habits can have major impacts on entire food webs. For example, typical finfish fisheries rely on zooplankton for food. A Phaeocystis bloom can disrupt this fishery because the gelatinous colonies can not be eaten by the zooplankton or the finfish. Instead, the Phaeocystis become food for less desirable members of the marine food web, like jellyfish, which then dominate this ecosystem. Phaeocystis blooms often dominate North Atlantic waters and impact fisheries, fish farming, and coastal tourism by producing odorous foams that accumulate on beaches during the collapse of a bloom. Dense blooms are detrimental to shell fish growth and reproduction, and are responsible for net-clogging, fish mortality, and alteration of fish taste. The success of Phaeocystis is a combination of life cycle stages, a range of colony sizes, and predator-activated defenses that reduces its mortality compared to competing phytoplankton. For these reasons Phaeocystis is an important organism to study the complexity of marine pelagic ecosystems. Molecular-level (e.g. gene expression) responses of P. globosa to ecological stresses and stimuli will be evaluated. Comparative analysis of expressed genes will begin to yield novel information about the biochemistry, physiology and ecology of this important species. Further, the genomic and gene-expression databases from this project will be a community resource and will support many projects on the ecology and evolution of this pivotal organism in marine ecosystems. Further, the PIs will create internships for students in underrepresented groups to train in genomics and bioinformatics.