Collaborative Research: Cleaning stations as hubs for the maintenance and recovery of microbial diversity on coral reefs.

合作研究：清洁站作为珊瑚礁微生物多样性维护和恢复的中心。

• 批准号: 2022955
• 负责人: Amy Apprill
• 金额: $ 25.47万
• 依托单位: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-03-01 至 2023-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2022955&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Cleaning; stations; hubs

Biodiversity in the ocean is influenced by interactions between disparate organisms which ultimately shape population, community, and ecosystem dynamics. Symbiotic interactions involving subsets of species can have disproportionate impacts on communities, reaching well beyond each interacting species. Coral reefs host some of the most iconic symbiotic interactions in nature and are host to the highest diversity of life on the planet. Cleaning symbiosis, wherein small fish or shrimp remove external parasites and associated microorganisms from specific clients, is common on coral reefs. Sites on the reef occupied by cleaners, or “cleaning stations”, attract a wide variety of fish species that engage in direct physical contact with the cleaner. These highly used territories are viewed both as “clinics of the sea”, where parasitized and sickly fish seek the service of cleaners, but also as potential “garbage dumps”, where unnecessary parasites and other microorganisms are removed. This project seeks to understand the role of cleaning symbiosis transferring microbes in coral reef environments. This research supports training for U.S. graduate students and for undergraduates from Arkansas State University, a primarily undergraduate institution that includes a large population of first-generation college students. These students participate in field site research and have opportunities to visit the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for broader exposure to ocean science and more specific laboratory training. The project strengthens international collaboration and further builds on the existing relationships between the team of scientists and resource managers, local divers, fishers, and boat operators, as well as K-12 schools and environmental education programs, and will therefore contribute to local economies. Outreach efforts include a film highlighting this research and publicly accessible narratives shared through press releases and an on-line magazine.While the benefits of cleaning to reef ecosystem health have been extensively studied, the cleaning costs for cleaner species and the role of cleaning stations as potential sinks for microbial diversity and possibly even pathogens have never been assessed. Here, the researchers utilize the unique features of cleaning stations to understand transfer of bacterial and archaeal symbionts amongst fish and within coral reef environment. The study capitalizes on cleanerfish access to multiple variety of hosts or clients within stations to address new questions about how cleanerfish act as vectors to transfer microorganisms between hosts on a reef and if and how these microorganisms may play a broader functional role in reef resilience. Specifically, the project addresses the following hypotheses: 1) Cleanerfishes serve as keystone regulators of microbial communities, enhancing microbial community diversity and transferring key microbial species between clients, and 2) Cleanerfishes are a particularly important contributor to reef resilience, facilitating recovery of the microbiome following disturbance. The research team uses an integrative interdisciplinary approach involving field and laboratory observations and experiments, and molecular-based tools. The core research team includes experts in cleaning mutualisms, fish behavior, coral reef ecology, and microbial ecology. The proposed project aims to link behavior of individual organisms with ecosystem-level process.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.

海洋中的生物多样性受到不同生物之间相互作用的影响，最终形成种群，社区和生态系统动态。涉及物种子集的共生相互作用可能对社区产生不成比例的影响，远远超出每个相互作用的物种。珊瑚礁承载着自然界中一些最具标志性的共生相互作用，是地球上生命多样性最高的宿主。清洁共生，其中小鱼或小虾从特定的客户端删除外部寄生虫和相关的微生物，是常见的珊瑚礁。珊瑚礁上被清洁工占据的地点，或“清洁站”，吸引了各种各样的鱼类，与清洁工直接接触。这些被高度利用的区域既被视为“海洋诊所”，在那里，寄生虫和患病的鱼类寻求清洁工的服务，也被视为潜在的“垃圾场”，在那里，不必要的寄生虫和其他微生物被清除。该项目旨在了解清洁共生转移微生物在珊瑚礁环境中的作用。这项研究支持培训美国研究生和本科生从阿肯色州州立大学，主要是本科院校，其中包括大量的第一代大学生。这些学生参加实地研究，并有机会访问伍兹霍尔海洋研究所，以更广泛地接触海洋科学和更具体的实验室培训。该项目加强了国际合作，并进一步建立了科学家和资源管理人员，当地潜水员，渔民和船只运营商以及K-12学校和环境教育计划之间的现有关系，因此将为当地经济做出贡献。外联工作包括一部突出介绍这项研究的电影，以及通过新闻稿和在线杂志分享的可公开获取的叙述。虽然清洁对珊瑚礁生态系统健康的好处已被广泛研究，但清洁物种的清洁成本以及清洁站作为微生物多样性甚至可能是病原体的潜在汇的作用从未被评估过。在这里，研究人员利用清洁站的独特功能来了解鱼类和珊瑚礁环境中细菌和古菌共生体的转移。该研究利用清洁鱼访问多种主机或客户端内站，以解决新的问题，清洁鱼如何作为载体，在珊瑚礁上的主机之间转移微生物，以及这些微生物是否以及如何在珊瑚礁恢复力中发挥更广泛的功能作用。具体而言，该项目涉及以下假设：1）清洁鱼类作为微生物群落的关键调节者，增强微生物群落多样性并在客户之间转移关键微生物物种，2）清洁鱼类是珊瑚礁恢复力的特别重要贡献者，促进扰动后微生物组的恢复。该研究小组采用综合的跨学科方法，包括现场和实验室观察和实验，以及基于分子的工具。核心研究团队包括清洁互惠、鱼类行为、珊瑚礁生态和微生物生态方面的专家。该项目旨在将个体生物的行为与生态系统水平的过程联系起来。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Reef Location and Client Diversity Influence the Skin Microbiome of the Caribbean Cleaner Goby Elacatinus evelynae

珊瑚礁位置和客户多样性影响加勒比清洁虾虎鱼的皮肤微生物群

• DOI: 10.1007/s00248-022-01984-z
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: Microbial ecology
• 影响因子: 3.6
• 作者: Pereira, A;Soares, M.C.;Santos, T;Poças, A;Pérez-Losada, M;Apprill, A;Sikkel, P.C;Xavier, R.
• 通讯作者: Xavier, R.