EF: Collaborative Research: MTM 2: Marine Invertebrate Microbiome Assembly, Diversification, and Coevolution

与海洋无脊椎动物相关的微生物对建立宿主-微生物协会的生命规则具有广泛的兴趣。尽管一些海洋无脊椎动物只有一种或两种微生物，但另一些海洋无脊椎动物却拥有数千种不同的微生物。该项目的目标是了解无脊椎动物如何以及为什么拥有特定的微生物；这些微生物的多样性是否与其宿主的多样性有关；以及这些联系如何随着进化时间的推移而变化。研究人员正在培训研究生、本科生和高中生如何评估微生物组多样性；如何使用新软件从DNA序列档案中搜索、分类和汇编数据；以及如何识别和分类海洋无脊椎动物。他们正在将研究生和本科生整合到一个以高中为基础的项目的开发中，以指导学生评估海洋无脊椎动物的生物多样性，培训下一代无脊椎动物生物学、宿主微生物生态学和进化数据分析方面的科学家。此外，研究科学家正在接受培训，使用新颖的数据挖掘和编译软件来解决宿主-微生物进化中尚未探索的问题。该项目正在调查构建微生物群落生物多样性的三个生态和进化过程：组装、多样化和共同进化。虽然以前的研究都集中在微生物群的宿主专一性上，但该项目将视角从宿主进化转移到微生物进化。该项目正在开发宿主-共生体相互作用的模型，这些模型在多个空间、时间和分类尺度上发挥作用。通过结合进化生态学和元群落生态学的理论，研究人员正在评估环境过滤、宿主相关的选择压力、空间连通性、微生物竞争、共种作用和宿主切换对微生物群落组装的相对重要性。通过使用系统发育比较方法，该项目正在测试不同的共生体和宿主是否对这些力量做出不同的反应。研究人员正在研究微生物群如何影响和响应共生和异地寄主物种形成的过程。为了实现这些目标，正在开发新的软件和进化模型，以支持对真核宿主的微生物多样性和定殖化的大规模分析。这些模型正在通过使用一系列重复的定居结构来进行实验测试，以检查固着海洋无脊椎动物群落的组装及其相关微生物群落的组装。此外，海洋海绵正被用作模式生物，以对比异地和共域微生物群随进化时间的差异。这些研究增强了我们对微生物群在维持生物多样性中的作用的更广泛的理解。该项目由了解生命规则：微生物组理论和机制计划资助，作为NSF十大想法的一部分，通过生物科学局新兴前沿部门进行管理。该奖项反映了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。

Microbes associated with marine invertebrates are of broad interest for establishing the rules of life for host-microbe associations. Although some marine invertebrates host only one or two types of microbes, others host thousands of different kinds of microbes. The project goal is to understand how and why particular microbes are hosted by invertebrates; whether the diversity of these microorganisms is related to the diversity of their hosts; and how these associations change over evolutionary time. The investigators are training graduate, undergraduate, and high school students how to assess microbiome diversity; how to use novel software to search, categorize, and compile data from DNA sequence archives; and how to identify and classify marine invertebrates. They are integrating graduate students and undergraduate students in the development of a high-school-based program to mentor students in the assessment of marine invertebrate biodiversity, training the next generation of scientists in invertebrate biology, host-microbe ecology, and evolutionary data analyses. In addition, research scientists are being trained to use novel data mining and compilation software to address unexplored questions in host-microbe evolution.This project is investigating three ecological and evolutionary processes that structure the biodiversity of microbiomes: assembly, diversification, and coevolution. While previous studies have focused on the host-specificity of microbiomes, the project shifts the perspective from host evolution to microbial evolution. The project is developing models of host-symbiont interactions that function across multiple spatial, temporal, and taxonomic scales. By incorporating theories from evolutionary ecology and metacommunity ecology, the investigators are assessing the relative importance of environmental filtering, host-associated selection pressures, spatial connectivity, microbial competition, cospeciation, and host switching on the assembly of microbiomes. Through the use of phylogenetic comparative methods, the project is testing whether different clades of symbionts and clades of hosts respond to these forces differently. The investigators are examining how microbiomes both impact and respond to the process of host speciation in sympatry and allopatry. To accomplish these goals, novel software and evolutionary models are being developed to support large-scale analyses of microbial diversification and colonization of eukaryotic hosts. These models are being experimentally tested by using a replicated series of settlement structures to examine the assembly of sessile marine invertebrate communities and the assembly of their associated microbiomes. In addition, marine sponges are being used as model organisms to contrast allopatric and sympatric microbiome divergence over evolutionary time. These investigations are enhancing our broader understanding of the roles of microbiomes in sustaining biodiversity.This project is funded by the Understanding the Rules of Life: Microbiome Theory and Mechanisms Program, administered as part of NSF's Ten Big Ideas through the Division of Emerging Frontiers in the Directorate for Biological Sciences.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.