EAPSI: Identifying Octocoral-Symbiont Associations in Okinawa, Japan

EAPSI：识别日本冲绳的八珊瑚共生协会

• 批准号: 1713866
• 负责人: Louis Buccella
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: Buccella Louis A
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-06-01 至 2018-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1713866&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Identifying; Octocoral; Symbiont; Associations

Okinawa, Japan, is host to many diverse soft corals (octocorals) that by and large rely on symbiotic algae for survival. These algae, known as Symbiodinium, live within the tissue of the host coral. Okinawan octocorals are largely understudied, and in some species, the host coral's associated symbionts have yet to be identified. Corals are threatened by a variety of factors, many of which induce a breakdown of this symbiosis (known as coral bleaching), which can result in the death of the coral. Following the approximate 50% loss of all Indo-Pacific coral cover since the 1980's, there is a greater need to identify Symbiodinium diversity, as not all symbiont types are equally susceptible to environmental threats. This study aims to examine unknown diversity by identifying the Symbiodinium populations associated with these understudied octocorals around Okinawa, a location of particular interest because it is the northernmost distribution limit for many of these species. This work will be done at the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Lab at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, in collaboration with Dr. James Reimer, whose expertise with both Japanese octocorals and Symbiodinium will be a big asset.With the use of SCUBA and/or snorkeling, octocorals from a range of genera will be identified and sampled from locations surrounding Okinawa, specified by Dr. Reimer and his lab members. The endosymbiont Symbiodinium communities will then be identified using a series of molecular markers, beginning with analyses of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS2 types), using protocols in which Dr. Reimer helped develop. Since it is predicted that these species will be dominated by Symbiodinium type C1, chloroplast psbAncr and possibly microsatellite flanking regions will then be analyzed to maximize the level of resolution within type C1. This survey will serve as a guide for future research, where it can be used as a baseline for comparisons and could even have the potential to aid in predicting certain species distributions/survivorship under ongoing climate change impacts such as global warming.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program ,supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

日本的冲绳是许多不同的软珊瑚的宿主，它们基本上依靠共生藻类生存。这些藻类，被称为共生藻，生活在宿主珊瑚的组织内。冲绳珊瑚虫在很大程度上没有得到充分的研究，在某些物种中，宿主珊瑚的共生体尚未被确定。珊瑚受到各种因素的威胁，其中许多因素导致这种共生关系的破坏（称为珊瑚漂白），这可能导致珊瑚死亡。 自20世纪80年代以来，印度-太平洋珊瑚覆盖面积减少了约50%，因此更需要确定共生藻的多样性，因为并非所有共生体类型都同样容易受到环境威胁。这项研究的目的是通过识别与冲绳周围这些未充分研究的八珊瑚相关的共生藻种群来检查未知的多样性，冲绳岛是一个特别令人感兴趣的地点，因为它是许多这些物种的最北端分布限制。这项工作将在日本冲绳的琉球大学的分子无脊椎动物系统学和生态学实验室进行，与James Reimer博士合作，他在日本珊瑚和共生藻方面的专业知识将是一个很大的财富。通过使用SCUBA和/或浮潜，将从冲绳周围的地点识别和采样一系列属的珊瑚是雷默博士和他的实验室成员指定的然后，将使用一系列分子标记来识别内共生体Symbiodinium群落，首先分析核糖体内部转录间隔区（ITS 2类型），使用Reimer博士帮助开发的协议。由于它是预测，这些物种将占主导地位的共生藻C1型，叶绿体psbAncr和可能的微卫星侧翼区，然后将进行分析，以最大限度地提高C1型内的分辨率水平。这项调查将作为未来研究的指南，它可以作为比较的基线，甚至有可能帮助预测某些物种在持续气候变化影响下的分布/生存，如全球变暖。这个奖项，根据东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划，支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和日本科学促进会共同资助。