IRFP: Sensory Biology of Coral Larvae: The Role of Opsins and Olfactory Receptors in Larval Behavior, Settlement and Metamorphosis

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行9到24个月的研究。该项目的奖项提供了联合研究的机会，并提供了使用国外独特或互补的设施、专业知识和实验条件的机会。该奖项将资助本杰明·梅森博士与澳大利亚昆士兰州汤斯维尔詹姆斯·库克大学的David Miller和Andrew Baird博士以及日本大阪城市大学的Akihisa Terakita博士合作的为期24个月的研究奖学金。世界各地的珊瑚礁都在减少。通过补充(幼虫定居、变态和存活到成熟)增加新的个体被认为是珊瑚种群恢复和恢复的关键因素之一。栖息地的选择对珊瑚能否存活起着至关重要的作用。光和化学物质是指导栖息地选择、定居和变态的主要线索，但负责检测它们的感官机制尚不清楚。本研究探讨了珊瑚幼虫探测化学物质和光信号的感官机制。它利用新的分子资源(珊瑚基因组和转录组数据库)来研究珊瑚平面中候选光感受器(Opsins)和化学感受器(嗅觉和气味感受器)基因的细胞定位、生化和生态功能。这项研究为参与幼虫定居和变态的感觉机制奠定了分子基础，对珊瑚礁的弹性和持久性至关重要，并对依赖这些过程的珊瑚水产养殖、恢复和珊瑚礁修复工作具有重要意义。此外，由于珊瑚的古老系统起源，这项研究为高等生物的感觉系统(视觉、嗅觉和味觉)的进化提供了新的见解，并为发现具有新功能和应用的基因和信号通路提供了可能性。除了促进我们对珊瑚礁定居和变形所涉及机制的了解、改善珊瑚礁修复和提供感知系统进化的洞察力之外，这项研究还将促进国际珊瑚礁协会与澳大利亚昆士兰州汤斯维尔詹姆斯·库克大学的研究人员(David Miller和Andrew Baird博士)、日本大阪城市大学的Terakita Akihisa博士(博士)和美国佛罗里达州迈阿密迈阿密大学的Vladlen Slepak博士(博士)之间的国际合作。

The International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct nine to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad. This award will support a twenty-four-month research fellowship by Dr. Benjamin Mason to work with Drs. David Miller and Andrew Baird at James Cook University in Townsville, QLD, Australia and Dr. Akihisa Terakita at Osaka City University in Osaka, Japan.Coral reefs around the world are in a state of decline. The addition of new individuals via recruitment (larval settlement, metamorphosis and survival to maturity) is one factor that is considered critical to the resilience and recovery of coral populations. Habitat selection during settlement plays a critical role in determining whether a coral will survive. Light and chemicals are the dominant cues guiding habitat selection, settlement and metamorphosis, yet the sensory mechanisms responsible for their detection are unknown. This research investigates the sensory mechanisms involved in the detection of chemical and light cues by coral larvae. It utilizes new molecular resources (coral genome and transcriptome databases) to investigate the cellular localization, biochemistry and ecological function of candidate photoreceptor (opsins) and chemoreceptor (olfactory and odorant receptor) genes in coral planulae.This research establishes molecular bases for the sensory mechanisms involved in larval settlement and metamorphosis, processes critical to the resilience and persistence of coral reefs, and has implications for coral aquaculture, restoration and reef rehabilitation efforts which rely on these processes. Also, due to the ancient phylogenetic origin of corals, this research provides new insights into the evolution of sensory systems (visual, olfactory and taste) in higher organisms, and it offers potential for the discovery of genes and signaling pathways with novel functions and applications. In addition to advancing our understanding of mechanisms involved in coral settlement and metamorphosis, improving coral reef restoration and providing insight into the evolution of sensory systems, this research will forge international collaboration between the PI and researchers (Drs. David Miller and Andrew Baird) at James Cook University in Townsville, QLD, Australia, (Dr. Akihisa Terakita) at Osaka City University in Osaka, Japan and (Dr. Vladlen Slepak) at the University of Miami, in Miami, FL, USA.