DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Effects of Microbes and Antimicrobial Compounds on Behavior of Cnidarian Larvae

论文研究：微生物和抗菌化合物对刺胞动物幼虫行为的影响

• 批准号: 0910372
• 负责人: Stuart Sandin
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0910372&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Effects; Microbes; Antimicrobial

Coral reefs are a source of food, tourism revenue and cultural pride for people in the United States and around the world, yet a suite of assaults including fishing, terrestrial runoff, sewage input, chemical pollution, global change and disease have pushed most coral reefs to the point of collapse. Individual corals grow extremely slowly, therefore future recovery of coral reefs will depend primarily on the successful sexual reproduction of the few corals that remain. In their larval stage, corals conduct complex swimming and searching behaviors to select their settlement locations. Previous work demonstrated that water column bacteria and antibiotic treatments alter the swimming rate and settlement rate, respectively, of lab-raised coral larvae. Therefore, interactions with bacteria are important for the successful completion of the coral life cycle. This project will use field collections during coral spawning, behavioral assays, and fluorescence-based microscopy to determine how coral larvae physically interact with bacteria and which of these interactions with bacteria are most important for normal larval behavior. The results of this research will help foster coral population recovery in Pacific and Caribbean reef ecoystems. The results will also add to the scientific understanding of animal reproduction and development, animal behavior, and interactions between animals and bacteria. During the project, at least two students will be trained in research diving and fieldwork methods, and at least one student will be trained in molecular biology and microscopy.

珊瑚礁是美国和世界各地人们的食物、旅游收入和文化自豪感的来源，然而一系列的攻击，包括捕鱼、陆地径流、污水输入、化学污染、全球变化和疾病，已经把大多数珊瑚礁推向了崩溃的边缘。个别珊瑚生长极其缓慢，因此，未来珊瑚礁的恢复主要取决于仅存的少数珊瑚能否成功有性繁殖。在它们的幼虫阶段，珊瑚会进行复杂的游泳和搜索行为来选择它们的定居地点。先前的研究表明，水柱细菌和抗生素处理分别改变了实验室培养的珊瑚幼虫的游泳速度和沉降速度。因此，与细菌的相互作用对于珊瑚生命周期的成功完成是重要的。该项目将在珊瑚产卵期间使用现场收集，行为分析和荧光显微镜来确定珊瑚幼虫与细菌的物理相互作用，以及哪些与细菌的相互作用对正常的幼虫行为最重要。这项研究的结果将有助于促进太平洋和加勒比珊瑚礁生态系统中珊瑚种群的恢复。研究结果还将有助于对动物繁殖和发育、动物行为以及动物与细菌之间相互作用的科学理解。在项目期间，至少两名学生将接受潜水研究和实地考察方法方面的培训，至少一名学生将接受分子生物学和显微镜方面的培训。