Metatranscriptomic Analysis of Puget Sound Phytoplankton Populations: SGER Complement to the Pacific NW Center for Human Health and Ocean Studies

在北美和世界各地，与其他宜居地区相比，海洋社区的人口密度正在经历不成比例的增长。要了解这些变化将对海洋和河口生态系统产生的影响以及对人类健康的影响，就必须在发生进一步的人为影响之前掌握沿海和河口生态系统的状况。在探索性研究小额赠款(SGER)的支持下，J·克雷格·文特尔研究所(JCVI)和华盛顿大学的研究人员将使用沿海微生物和浮游植物群落的元基因组和转录组测序来研究环境应激源(其中一些与人类活动有关)如何使生态平衡转向有害藻华(HAB)的增加。他们的研究区域将是华盛顿州的普吉特湾，这是一个经常经历哈布斯的多产河口。尤其是赤潮生物假硝化藻。和亚历山大藻(Alexandrium spp.)这种病毒在整个夏季和秋季在该地区都很流行，也是华盛顿大学正在进行的研究项目的对象。选择这一研究区域特别重要，因为华盛顿州预计将在2000年至2030年期间成为美国人口增长最快的五个沿海州之一(美国人口普查局)。这项探索性研究将构成两个机构正在进行的研究活动的合作延伸。特别是，文特尔研究所的首席研究员是JCVI全球海洋采样(GOS)计划的成员，并在2007年夏秋两季领导美国西海岸的元基因组采样。作为GOS的一部分，JCVI将于2007年10月从Puget Sound收集样本进行元基因组分析。通过拟议的合作，将收集更多样本，用于更高风险和发展分析。具体地说，将有针对性地对较大体型的光合作用细胞进行元转录研究(典型的假菱形藻和亚历山大藻)。还将收集辅助海洋学数据(水文学、营养素、色素和流式细胞术数据)，以帮助将后基因组/转录序列信息纳入对环境有意义的框架。通过环境、后基因组和转录组数据的结合，研究小组希望对普吉特湾在一年中典型的HAB事件期间出现的远洋微生物群落有新的见解，并开始梳理这些种群在塑造普吉特湾生态系统中所起的作用。特别是，他们将评估各种营养和其他应激源在控制特定HAB种群转录活性方面的作用。

In North America and worldwide, maritime communities are experiencing a disproportionate increase in population density compared to other habitable regions. An understanding of the impact these changes will have on marine and estuarine ecosystems and the repercussions for human health is predicated upon having a snapshot of the status of coastal and estuarine ecosystems before further anthropogenic impacts occur. With support from this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER), researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) and the University of Washington will use metagenome and transcriptome sequencing of the coastal microbial and phytoplankton communities to investigate how environmental stressors (some related to human activities) might tip the ecological balance toward an increase in harmful algal blooms (HABs). Their study area will be Puget Sound, Washington, a productive estuary that regularly experiences HABs. In particular, the HAB organisms Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and Alexandrium spp. are both prevalent in this region throughout the summer and fall months and are the objects of ongoing research programs at the University of Washington. The choice of this study area is particularly relevant because Washington state is projected to be in the top five U.S. coastal states with the greatest population growth between the years 2000 and 2030 (U.S. Census Bureau).This exploratory research will constitute a collaborative extension of ongoing research activities at both institutions. In particular, the principal investigator at the Venter Institute is a member of the Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) program at JCVI and heads the metagenomic sampling along the west coast of the United States in the summer and fall of 2007. As part of GOS, JCVI will collect samples from Puget Sound in October 2007 for metagenomic analyses. Through the proposed collaboration, additional samples for more high risk and developmental analyses will be collected. Specifically, there will be a targeted metatranscriptomic investigation of photosynthetic cells in the larger size class (typical for Pseudo-nitzschia and Alexandrium). Ancillary oceanographic data (hydrography, nutrients, pigments, and flow cytometry data) will also be collected to help contextualize the metagenomic/transcriptomic sequence information into an environmentally meaningful framework. Through the combination of environmental, metagenomic, and transcriptomic data the research team expects to achieve new insight into the pelagic microbial communities that occur in Puget Sound during typical HAB event times of the year and to begin to tease apart the role these populations play in shaping the Puget Sound ecosystem. In particular, they will evaluate the role of various nutrient and other stressors in controlling the transcriptional activity specific HAB populations.