Collaborative: The Predictive Nature of Microbial Biofilms for Cuing Larval Settlement at Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vents

40多年的研究表明，热液喷口独特居民的微小自由游泳后代可以有效地分散在其专门的栖息地之间。然而，我们几乎不知道这些幼虫动物是如何通过在合适的地方定位和定居来完成旅程的。这一问题仍然是深海生态学中尚未解决的关键难题之一，随着热液喷口受到人类影响的威胁，解决这一问题变得越来越重要。研究人员认为，最初在喷口形成的细菌薄膜是幼虫定居的良好标志，因为它们表明热液喷口适合生命。该项目采用了一个结合了实地实验、尖端分子生物学技术和热液喷口幼虫和培养细菌膜的船上实验的方案。该项目还将一所主要本科院校（西华盛顿大学）的本科研究实习生与两所研究机构（罗格斯大学和伍兹霍尔海洋研究所）的本科研究实习生联系起来，同时一起在海上从事该项目。最后，该团队正在制作一部充满海洋科学和探索的科学行动纪录片，用于电视发行和博物馆放映。调查人员正在使用深海喷口，船上和潜水作业以及实验室工作的镜头来制作一部纪录片，突出科学研究的基础-假设驱动的研究，科学方法的应用以及批判性思维的重要性-所有这些都在一个令人兴奋的研究框架内，但受到威胁，热液喷口是一个特别容易处理的系统，可以在其中研究生物膜在幼虫定居中的作用问题，因为喷口处的生物膜相对来说不太复杂;喷口动物严格依赖喷口微生物，往往是通过定居后获得的共生伙伴关系;在共同的幼虫库范围内存在环境变化。此外，几十年的研究模式生物定居给我们很好的洞察到生物膜线索;有坚实的基础上的了解定居模式在喷口;我们现在有很好的工具来收集，识别和培养喷口幼虫和微生物;和现代环境“组学”技术是一个很好的工具来表征生物膜产生的生物线索。该项目提供了一个前所未有的，定量研究微生物生物膜在构造幼虫定居在热液喷口的作用，只有通过微生物和幼虫生态学家的密切合作才能实现。短期沉降实验，微生物“组学”的工作，以及随后的船上沉降实验相结合的现场计划，使调查小组能够使用现场实验来统计模型的因素，最好地预测幼虫在该领域的解决方案，然后测试这些预测与船上实验解耦协变条件。这种广泛的表征假定的幼虫定居线索和它们之间的关系，殖民成功的异质喷口栖息地壁龛将有助于更广泛地了解殖民成功跨越不同的海洋生态系统。了解幼虫的最初定居在热液喷口生态系统的恢复和复原中所起的作用，对于制定深海采矿的知情管理计划至关重要，这一奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来提供支持。

Over four decades of research have shown that tiny free-swimming offspring of the unique inhabitants of hydrothermal vents can disperse effectively between their specialized habitats. Yet, we know almost nothing about how these larval animals complete the journey by locating and settling down in suitable locations. This question remains one of the key unresolved puzzles in the ecology of the deep sea and is becoming increasingly important to solve as hydrothermal vents are becoming threatened by human impacts. The investigators suggest that the films of bacteria that first form at vents are good signposts for settlement of larvae because they indicate that the hydrothermal vents are suitable for life. This project uses a combined program of field experiments, cutting-edge molecular biology techniques, and shipboard experiments with hydrothermal-vent larvae and cultured bacterial films. The project also connects undergraduate research interns at a primarily undergraduate institution (Western Washington University) with undergraduate research interns at two research institutions (Rutgers and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) while working on the project at sea together. Finally, the team is producing a science-in-action documentary filled with ocean science and exploration intended for television distribution and museum screenings. The investigators are using footage of the deep-sea vents, shipboard and diving operations, and laboratory work to create a documentary that highlights the foundation of scientific research—hypothesis-driven research, the application of the scientific method, and the importance of critical thinking—all in the framework of the study of an exciting, but threatened, ecosystem.Hydrothermal vents are particularly tractable systems in which to study questions about the roles of biofilms in larval settlement because biofilms at vents are relatively low-complexity; vent animals are strictly dependent on vent microbes, often through symbiotic partnerships acquired after settlement; and environmental variations are present within the range of a common larval pool. Moreover, decades of research on settlement in model organisms give us good insight into biofilm cues; there is solid foundational understanding about colonization patterns at vents; we now have excellent tools to collect, identify, and culture vent larvae and microbes; and modern environmental "-omics" techniques are a good tool to characterize biological cues produced by biofilms. The project provides an unprecedented, quantitative look into the role of microbial biofilms in structuring larval settlement at hydrothermal vents, achieved only through the close collaboration of microbial and larval ecologists. The combined field program of short-term settlement experiments, microbial "-omics" work, and subsequent shipboard settlement experiments allows the investigative team to use field experiments to statistically model the factors that best predict larval settlement in the field, then test those predictions with shipboard experiments that decouple covarying conditions. This extensive characterization of putative larval settlement cues and their relationship to colonization success in heterogeneous vent habitat niches will contribute to a broader understanding of colonization success across diverse marine ecosystems. Understanding the role that the initial settlement of larvae plays in the recovery and resilience of hydrothermal-vent ecosystems is critical to developing informed management plans for deep-sea mining.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.