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

在北美和全世界，与其他可居住地区相比，海洋社区的人口密度正在不成比例地增加。了解这些变化将对海洋和河口生态系统的影响和对人类健康的影响，是基于在进一步的人为影响发生之前对沿海和河口生态系统的状况有一个快照。 在这项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宏基因组和转录组测序来调查环境压力（一些与人类活动有关）如何可能使生态平衡向有害藻华（HAB）增加的方向倾斜。 他们的研究区域将是华盛顿的普吉湾，这是一个经常发生赤潮的多产河口。特别地，HAB生物伪菱形藻属（Pseudo-nitzschia spp.）和亚历山大藻（Alexandrum spp.）在整个夏季和秋季都很流行，并且是华盛顿大学正在进行的研究项目的对象。这个研究领域的选择是特别相关的，因为华盛顿州预计将在前五名的美国沿海国家与最大的人口增长之间的2000年和2030年（美国人口普查局）。 特别是，文特尔研究所的首席研究员是JCVI全球海洋采样方案的成员，并于2007年夏季和秋季领导了沿着美国西海岸的宏基因组采样。作为GOS的一部分，JCVI将于2007年10月从普吉湾收集样本进行宏基因组分析。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。 具体来说，将有一个有针对性的metatranscriptomic调查光合细胞在较大的大小类（典型的假菱形藻和Alexandrum）。 还将收集辅助海洋学数据（水文学，营养物质，色素和流式细胞术数据），以帮助将宏基因组/转录组序列信息纳入对环境有意义的框架。 通过环境，宏基因组和转录组数据的结合，研究团队希望在一年中典型的HAB事件期间对普吉特海湾的浮游微生物群落进行新的了解，并开始梳理这些种群在塑造普吉特海湾生态系统中的作用。特别是，他们将评估各种营养素和其他应激因子在控制特定HAB群体转录活性中的作用。

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.