Collaborative Research: Constitutive and Inducible Predation Defenses in Cyanobacteria

合作研究：蓝藻的组成型和诱导型捕食防御

• 批准号: 1021421
• 负责人: Brian Palenik
• 金额: $ 62.9万
• 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: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1021421&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Constitutive; Inducible; Predation

Terrestrial plants have diverse and sophisticated mechanisms for defending against predation and pathogens, but the defenses of photosynthetic microbes in aquatic ecosystems are much less well understood. Synechococcus are aquatic/marine cyanobacteria that substantially contribute to global primary productivity. This project will employ two main approaches to study Synechococcus defenses against protist predators. Experiments will examine the mechanism(s) by which cell surface proteins provide a constitutive (continuously expressed) defense and assay the generality of this defense among Synechococcus strains and against diverse predator types. Secondly, co-culture techniques, in which Synechococcus are grown in the presence of predators, will be used to characterize protein-based induced defenses that may arise in response to predation. The formation of aggregates as a possible induced defense by Synechococcus will also be examined in field and laboratory settings. Aggregate formation is important for the biogeochemistry and ecological functioning of planktonic communities since aggregates can be the site of unique biogeochemical processes. The research is cross-cutting on a number of levels: it examines constitutive and induced defenses in both controlled laboratory and natural settings; it leverages the suite of available Synechococcus genomes to enable a mechanistic investigation of microbial defense processes; and it represents a synthesis of ecological and genomic approaches to the study of microbial interactions that are fundamental to biogeochemical cycling and the maintenance of biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Broader impacts of this project include support of graduate and undergraduate students, including ethnic minority participants in Shannon Point Marine Center's Multicultural Initiatives in Marine Science Undergraduate Program (MIMSUP). Other impacts include development of instructional modules for elementary and high school students, and maintenance and distribution of culture collections.

陆生植物具有多种复杂的防御捕食和病原体的机制，但水生生态系统中光合微生物的防御机制却鲜为人知。聚球藻是水生/海洋蓝藻，对全球初级生产力做出了重大贡献。该项目将采用两种主要方法来研究聚球藻对原生捕食者的防御。实验将检查细胞表面蛋白提供组成型（持续表达）防御的机制，并分析聚球藻菌株和针对不同捕食者类型的这种防御的普遍性。其次，共培养技术（聚球藻在捕食者存在的情况下生长）将用于表征因捕食而可能出现的基于蛋白质的诱导防御。聚集体的形成作为聚球藻可能诱导的防御也将在现场和实验室环境中进行检查。聚集体的形成对于浮游生物群落的生物地球化学和生态功能很重要，因为聚集体可以是独特的生物地球化学过程的场所。该研究在多个层面上具有交叉性：它研究了受控实验室和自然环境中的本构防御和诱导防御；它利用现有的聚球藻基因组套件来对微生物防御过程进行机械研究；它代表了研究微生物相互作用的生态和基因组方法的综合，这对于生物地球化学循环和水生生态系统生物多样性的维持至关重要。该项目的更广泛影响包括对研究生和本科生的支持，包括香农角海洋中心海洋科学本科生项目（MIMSUP）多元文化倡议中的少数民族参与者。其他影响包括为中小学生开发教学模块，以及培养物收藏的维护和分发。