Collaborative Research:RAPID: A hyper-thermal anomaly in the Florida Reef Tract: An opportunity to explore the mechanisms underpinning patterns of coral bleaching and disease

合作研究：RAPID：佛罗里达珊瑚礁区的高温异常：探索珊瑚白化和疾病模式基础机制的机会

• 批准号: 1503483
• 负责人: Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
• 金额: $ 17.79万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 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: 2014-12-01 至 2016-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1503483&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RAPID; hyper; thermal

Coral reefs are among the most biologically diverse and economically important ecosystems on the planet. However, coral reefs are in a state of global decline due to effects of climate change, disease outbreaks, and other stressors. Mass coral bleaching events, a breakdown of the association between corals and their symbiotic algae, are predicted to become more frequent and severe in response to climate change, and it is expected that subsequent disease outbreaks will become more common. Beginning in August 2014, nearly all coral species in the Florida Reef Tract have undergone severe bleaching, in some cases followed by coral mortality and/or disease outbreaks. This widespread, thermal-induced event presents a unique time-sensitive opportunity to explore the mechanisms underpinning the patterns of coral bleaching, disease, and recovery. The mechanisms linking patterns of bleaching, disease, mortality, and recovery remain relatively unexplored. This research will explore the influences that genotype combinations of host polyps, their algal symbionts, and associated bacterial have on bleaching/disease likelihood and recovery/mortality predisposition of coral specimens. By providing a mechanistic understanding of the processes that underlie coral bleaching and subsequent recovery this research will contribute to measures in support of preserving this invaluable natural resource. The study will further involve students from diverse backgrounds as well as provide project internship opportunities for high school students. A web based radio blog will disseminate project results and other relevant developments to the broad audiences Mass coral bleaching events are predicted to become more frequent and severe in response to climate change, and it is expected that subsequent disease outbreaks will become more common. The lack of a baseline genetic datasets for coral holobionts prior to previous natural bleaching events has hindered our understanding of recovery patterns and physiological tolerance to thermal stress, also known as coral bleaching. An extensive pre-thermal stress baseline of genotypic identity of coral hosts, Symbiodinium, and associated bacterial community offers a unique opportunity to analyze changes associated with current bleaching event along the Florida coastline and to document holobiont compositions most and least resistant/resilient to bleaching and disease. Repeated sampling of the same coral colonies will allow the investigators to compare holobiont composition before, during and after bleaching of both healthy and diseased individuals. This bleaching event is a time-sensitive natural experiment to examine the dynamics of microbes (Symbiodinium and bacteria) associated with affected colonies, including their potential influence on disease susceptibility and resistance of reef corals. This effort would constitute the first time that high throughput sequencing of coral, Symbiodinium endosymbiont, and the coral-associated bacterial community genotypes are together used to explain patterns of disease, recovery, and mortality following natural bleaching. This study will likely change the way investigators study emerging wasting diseases of keystone species that define marine benthic communities.

珊瑚礁是地球上最具生物多样性和经济重要性的生态系统之一。然而，由于气候变化、疾病爆发和其他压力因素的影响，珊瑚礁正处于全球衰退状态。大规模珊瑚白化事件是珊瑚与其共生藻类之间关系的崩溃，预计由于气候变化，这种情况将变得更加频繁和严重，预计随后的疾病爆发将变得更加普遍。从2014年8月开始，佛罗里达珊瑚礁区的几乎所有珊瑚物种都经历了严重的漂白，在某些情况下，随后珊瑚死亡和/或疾病爆发。这一广泛的热致事件提供了一个独特的时间敏感的机会，以探索珊瑚漂白，疾病和恢复模式的机制。漂白，疾病，死亡率和恢复模式之间的联系机制仍然相对未被探索。本研究将探讨宿主息肉，藻类共生体和相关细菌的基因型组合对珊瑚标本的漂白/疾病可能性和恢复/死亡倾向的影响。通过提供对珊瑚漂白和随后恢复过程的机械理解，这项研究将有助于采取措施，支持保护这一宝贵的自然资源。这项研究将进一步涉及来自不同背景的学生，以及为高中生提供项目实习机会。一个基于网络的广播博客将向广大受众传播项目成果和其他相关动态。在以前的自然漂白事件之前，缺乏珊瑚全生物的基线遗传数据集，阻碍了我们对恢复模式和对热应力的生理耐受性（也称为珊瑚漂白）的理解。珊瑚宿主，共生藻，和相关的细菌群落的基因型身份的一个广泛的预热应力基线提供了一个独特的机会，分析与当前的漂白事件沿着佛罗里达州海岸线的变化，并记录holobiont组合物最多和最少的耐/耐漂白和疾病。对同一珊瑚群的重复取样将使研究人员能够比较健康和患病个体在漂白之前、期间和之后的全生物组成。这一漂白事件是一项时间敏感的自然实验，旨在研究与受影响菌落相关的微生物（共生藻和细菌）的动态，包括它们对珊瑚礁疾病易感性和抵抗力的潜在影响。这一努力将首次构成珊瑚，共生藻内共生体和珊瑚相关细菌群落基因型的高通量测序一起用于解释自然漂白后的疾病，恢复和死亡模式。这项研究可能会改变调查人员研究定义海洋底栖生物群落的关键物种的新出现的消耗性疾病的方式。