Americas Dissertation Research: Heterologous and Comparative Genomic Hybridizations to Acropora Palmata and Montastraea Faveolata Coral Microarrays

该奖项授予加州大学默塞德分校的Monica Medina博士，支持研究生Michael DeSalvo在国立大学Autónoma de msamxico （UNAM）进行博士论文研究。德萨佛先生将在墨西哥接受墨西哥国立自治大学科学研究所Limnología的罗伯托·伊格莱西亚斯-普列托博士的指导。德萨佛先生的调查将集中在珊瑚的应力敏感性和抗逆性的分子基础上。具体来说，异源杂交（将核酸结合到其他物种的DNA微阵列上）将用于分析不同系统发育距离的珊瑚的基因表达模式。在墨西哥莫雷洛斯港收集的珊瑚碎片将在实验室条件下经受热应激，样本中的mRNA将用于分析应激反应基因和途径。除了对胁迫反应的进化分析外，本研究的一个主要目的是测量异源杂交过程的效率，为其他研究人员使用这些基因组工具奠定基础。这项研究还将加强加州大学默塞德分校和墨西哥国立农业大学之间正在进行的合作，为一名美国博士生提供国际培训和经验，并提供有关珊瑚白化和其他气候变化引起的压力机制的宝贵信息。

This award to Dr. Monica Medina at the University of California - Merced supports graduate student Michael DeSalvo to conduct doctoral dissertation research at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Mr. DeSalvo will be supervised in Mexico by Dr. Roberto Iglesias-Prieto from UNAM's Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología. Mr. DeSalvo's investigation will focus on the molecular basis of stress susceptibility and resistance in coral. Specifically, heterologous hybridization (the binding of nucleic acids onto DNA microarrays from other species) will be used to analyze gene expression patterns in corals across different phylogenetic distances. Coral fragments collected in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, will be subjected to thermal stress under laboratory conditions, and mRNA from the samples will be used to analyze stress-responsive genes and pathways. In addition to the evolutionary analysis of stress response, a main objective of this study is to measure the efficiency of the heterologous hybridization process, building a foundation for other researchers to use these genomic tools. The research will also strengthen the ongoing collaboration between UC Merced and UNAM, provide international training and experience for a U.S. Ph.D. student, and supply valuable information about the mechanisms of coral bleaching and other climate-change induced stress.