Ocean Acidification: Mechanisms of Coral Biomineralization

海洋酸化：珊瑚生物矿化机制

• 批准号: 1416785
• 负责人: Paul Falkowski
• 金额: $ 139.41万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-15 至 2018-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1416785&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ocean; Acidification; Mechanisms; Coral; Biomineralization

This research seeks to understand how corals make their skeletons. The skeletons of stony corals are critically important biological structures that support huge areas of tropical and subtropical marine life as well as providing natural barriers against waves, storms, and floods. However, it is not yet known how corals construct their skeletons, nor is it fully understood what the effect of ocean acidification will have on this process. To address these fundamental questions, this project follows a two-pronged approach that utilizes information in the genes of living corals coupled with ultra high-resolution microscopy and physical chemical techniques to understand the mechanism that underlies precipitation of the carbonate mineral that forms the skeleton of stony corals. This effort will further develop techniques that will allow the culturing of coral tissues and the analysis of coral genomes to infer gene functions. The research is relevant to understanding the potential threat of ocean acidification to the viability of corals in the coming decades. Although biomineralization in corals has been studied for decades, the basic mechanism responsible for the precipitation of the aragonite skeleton remains enigmatic. Using a forward genetic approach, a group of highly acidic proteins derived from the common stony coral, Stylophora pistillata was recently identified and cloned. All of the cloned proteins precipitate aragonite in seawater at pH 8.2 and at 7.6 in vitro. However, it is not clear if the expression of these proteins in vivo is sufficient for the formation of an aragonite skeleton at seawater pH values below ~7.8. Using a combination of molecular, biophysical, genomic, and cell biological approaches the core hypothesis to be tested here is that, unless wounded or otherwise having skeletal material exposed directly to seawater, stony, zooxanthellate corals will continue to calcify at pH values projected for the CO2 emissions scenarios for 2100. The multi-disciplinary research approach is designed to inform how pH of the ocean influences the key physiological processes responsible for calcification in zooxanthellate scleratinian corals. The research team will create online learning modules for undergraduate students. In addition, the research will be incorporated into the Education and Public Outreach group at Rutgers University for marine science education of K-12 students and training of K-12 teachers. Finally, the project includes training and career development for two post-doctoral fellows.

这项研究旨在了解珊瑚是如何制造骨骼的。石珊瑚的骨骼是至关重要的生物结构，支持热带和亚热带海洋生物的巨大区域，并提供抵御海浪，风暴和洪水的天然屏障。然而，目前尚不清楚珊瑚是如何构建骨骼的，也不完全了解海洋酸化对这一过程的影响。为了解决这些基本问题，该项目采用双管齐下的方法，利用活珊瑚基因中的信息，结合超高分辨率显微镜和物理化学技术，以了解形成骨骼的碳酸盐矿物沉淀的机制。石珊瑚。这项努力将进一步发展技术，使珊瑚组织的培养和珊瑚基因组的分析，以推断基因功能。这项研究有助于了解海洋酸化在未来几十年对珊瑚生存能力的潜在威胁。虽然珊瑚的生物矿化作用已经研究了几十年，但文石骨架沉淀的基本机制仍然是个谜。利用正向遗传学方法，最近从普通石珊瑚Stylophorapistillata中鉴定并克隆了一组高酸性蛋白。所有克隆的蛋白质沉淀文石在海水中在pH 8.2和在7.6在体外。然而，目前尚不清楚这些蛋白质在体内的表达是否足以在海水pH值低于7.8时形成文石骨架。使用分子，生物物理，基因组和细胞生物学方法的组合，这里要测试的核心假设是，除非受伤或以其他方式有骨骼材料直接暴露于海水，石，虫黄藻珊瑚将继续钙化的pH值预测为2100年的二氧化碳排放情景。多学科的研究方法旨在告知海洋的pH值如何影响负责在虫黄藻scleratinian珊瑚钙化的关键生理过程。研究团队将为本科生创建在线学习模块。此外，该研究将纳入罗格斯大学的教育和公共外展小组，用于K-12学生的海洋科学教育和K-12教师的培训。最后，该项目包括对两名博士后研究员的培训和职业发展。

项目成果

Genome analysis of the rice coral Montipora capitata

稻珊瑚 Montipora Capitalata 的基因组分析

• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-39274-3
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Scientific Reports
• 影响因子: 4.6
• 作者: Shumaker, Alexander;Putnam, Hollie M.;Qiu, Huan;Price, Dana C.;Zelzion, Ehud;Harel, Arye;Wagner, Nicole E.;Gates, Ruth D.;Yoon, Hwan Su;Bhattacharya, Debashish
• 通讯作者: Bhattacharya, Debashish