Using Next Generation Sequencing to Quantify the Symbiotic Prokaryotic Communities of the Coral Montastraea cavernosa and the Response of the Holobiont to Thermal Stress

使用下一代测序来量化 Montastraea 海绵珊瑚的共生原核生物群落以及 Holobiont 对热应激的响应

• 批准号: 1231468
• 负责人: Michael Lesser
• 金额: $ 29.42万
• 依托单位: University of New Hampshire
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-08-01 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1231468&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Using; Next; Generation; Sequencing; Quantify

Intellectual Merit: There is much to be learned about the roles of prokaryotic microbes (bacteria and archaea) in the physiology, biochemistry, and ecology of reef-forming corals. The importance of greater understanding of prokaryote associations has become especially evident because it is now known that many corals harbor endosymbiotic prokaryotes with multiple, significant effects on coral biology. This project will assess how different prokaryotic communities affect the biogeochemistry of nitrogen within the coral, and how these microbial communities, and the functions they carry out, are affected by global climate change. To accomplish this, the latest high-throughput-sequencing (metagenomic and metatranscriptomic) tools will be used to examine the taxonomic and functional diversity of these symbioses in a model coral from the Caribbean, Montastraea cavernosa. Proposed experiments will elucidate the effects of thermal stress on these prokaryotic communities, as well as the coral host and symbiotic dinoflagellates (i.e., zooxanthellae) from individual corals. The bioinformatic analysis of the sequence data from this project will result in the discovery of novel prokaryotes and increase our understanding of the taxonomic and functional biodiversity of prokaryotes in corals. Broader Impacts: The particular metatranscriptomic approach described in this project is novel in its application to corals and their multiple symbionts and could be an important advance in applying molecular techniques to the study of corals. This project will also support the research activities of both undergraduate and graduate students who will work closely with the principal investigators on their individualized research projects. Both the investigators and students supported on this project will also engage in public outreach events to provide environmental education lectures about the ecology and conservation of coral reefs.

智力优势：关于原核微生物（细菌和古细菌）在造礁珊瑚的生理学、生物化学和生态学中的作用，还有很多东西需要了解。更好地了解原核生物协会的重要性已经变得特别明显，因为现在已知许多珊瑚含有内共生原核生物，对珊瑚生物学具有多重显著影响。 该项目将评估不同的原核生物群落如何影响珊瑚中氮的生物地球化学，以及这些微生物群落及其功能如何受到全球气候变化的影响。为了实现这一目标，最新的高通量测序（宏基因组和metatranscriptomic）工具将被用来研究这些共生体的分类和功能多样性的模式珊瑚从加勒比海，Montastraea cavernosa。 拟议的实验将阐明热应力对这些原核生物群落以及珊瑚宿主和共生甲藻（即，虫黄藻）。该项目序列数据的生物信息学分析将导致发现新的原核生物，并增加我们对珊瑚中原核生物分类和功能生物多样性的理解。 更广泛的影响：在这个项目中描述的特定的metatranscriptomic方法是新的，在其应用于珊瑚及其多种共生体，并可能是一个重要的进展，在应用分子技术的珊瑚研究。 该项目还将支持本科生和研究生的研究活动，他们将与主要研究人员密切合作，开展个性化的研究项目。该项目支持的调查人员和学生还将参与公共外联活动，提供关于珊瑚礁生态和养护的环境教育讲座。