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

智力价值：关于原核生物微生物(细菌和古生菌)在珊瑚礁形成珊瑚的生理、生化和生态中的作用，有很多需要了解的东西。更好地了解原核生物相关性的重要性变得尤为明显，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种重大影响。该项目将评估不同的原核生物群落如何影响珊瑚内氮的生物地球化学，以及这些微生物群落及其执行的功能如何受到全球气候变化的影响。为了实现这一点，将使用最新的高通量测序(元基因组和元转录)工具来研究来自加勒比海的模式珊瑚Montastraea cavernosa中这些共生体的分类和功能多样性。拟议的实验将阐明热应激对这些原核生物群落以及珊瑚宿主和来自单个珊瑚的共生甲藻(即虫黄藻)的影响。对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，并增加我们对珊瑚原核生物分类和功能生物多样性的理解。更广泛的影响：本项目中描述的特殊的后转录方法在应用于珊瑚及其多种共生体方面是新颖的，并可能是将分子技术应用于珊瑚研究方面的重要进展。该项目还将支持本科生和研究生的研究活动，他们将在各自的研究项目上与主要研究人员密切合作。参与这项计划的研究人员和学生亦会参与公众推广活动，提供有关珊瑚礁生态和保育的环境教育讲座。

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.