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

海洋中的生物多样性受到不同生物之间相互作用的影响，这些相互作用最终塑造了种群、群落和生态系统的动态。涉及物种亚群的共生相互作用可能对群落产生不成比例的影响，远远超出每个相互作用的物种的范围。珊瑚礁是自然界中一些最具标志性的共生互动的地方，也是地球上生命多样性最高的地方。清洁共生，即小鱼或小虾从特定客户身上清除外部寄生虫和相关微生物，在珊瑚礁上很常见。由清洁工或“清洁站”占据的珊瑚礁上的地点吸引了各种各样的鱼类，它们与清洁工有直接的身体接触。这些使用率高的地区既被视为“海洋诊所”，寄生和患病的鱼在这里寻求清洁工的服务，也被视为潜在的“垃圾场”，在那里清除不必要的寄生虫和其他微生物。该项目试图了解清洁共生在珊瑚礁环境中转移微生物的作用。这项研究支持对美国研究生和阿肯色州立大学本科生的培训，阿肯色州立大学是一所以本科为主的机构，包括大量的第一代大学生。这些学生参加实地研究，并有机会参观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，并进一步加强了科学家和资源管理人员、当地潜水员、渔民和船只操作员以及K-12学校和环境教育项目之间的现有关系，因此将为当地经济做出贡献。外展工作包括一部突出这项研究的电影，以及通过新闻稿和在线杂志分享的公众可获得的叙述。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的病原体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细菌和古生菌在鱼类之间和珊瑚礁环境中的转移。这项研究利用清洁鱼可以接触到工作站内的多种宿主或客户，以解决关于清洁鱼如何作为载体在珊瑚礁上的宿主之间转移微生物，以及这些微生物是否以及如何在珊瑚礁弹性方面发挥更广泛的功能的新问题。具体而言，该项目涉及以下假设：1)清洁鱼类是微生物群落的重要调节者，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)清洁鱼类是珊瑚礁弹性的一个特别重要的贡献者，促进微生物群落在受到干扰后的恢复。研究小组使用了一种综合的跨学科方法，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共生、鱼类行为、珊瑚礁生态和微生物生态方面的专家。拟议的项目旨在将个体生物体的行为与生态系统层面的过程联系起来。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.