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-微生物关联的生命规则具有广泛的兴趣。虽然一些海洋无脊椎动物只携带一到两种微生物，但另一些却携带着数千种不同的微生物。该项目的目标是了解特定微生物是如何以及为什么由无脊椎动物宿主的；这些微生物的多样性是否与其宿主的多样性有关；以及这些关联在进化过程中是如何变化的。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的多样性；如何使用新颖的软件从DNA序列档案中检索、分类和编译数据；以及如何识别和分类海洋无脊椎动物。他们将研究生和本科生整合到一个以高中为基础的项目中，指导学生评估海洋无脊椎动物的生物多样性，培养无脊椎动物生物学、宿主-微生物生态学和进化数据分析方面的下一代科学家。此外，研究科学家正在接受培训，使用新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。该项目研究了构成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。虽然以前的研究主要集中在微生物组的宿主特异性上，但该项目将视角从宿主进化转移到微生物进化上。该项目正在开发宿主-共生体相互作用的模型，该模型跨越多个空间、时间和分类尺度。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、宿主相关选择压力、空间连通性、微生物竞争、共种和宿主对微生物组组装的切换的相对重要性。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分支和宿主分支对这些力量的反应是否不同。研究人员正在研究微生物组如何影响和响应同属和异属宿主物种形成的过程。为了实现这些目标，新的软件和进化模型正在开发，以支持微生物多样化和真核宿主定植的大规模分析。这些模型正在通过使用一系列复制的定居结构进行实验测试，以检查无根海洋无脊椎动物群落的组装及其相关微生物组的组装。此外，海洋海绵被用作模式生物来对比进化过程中异域和同域微生物组的差异。这些研究正在增强我们对微生物组在维持生物多样性方面的作用的更广泛的理解。该项目由理解生命规则：微生物组理论和机制项目资助，该项目是由生物科学理事会新兴前沿部门管理的美国国家科学基金会十大理念的一部分。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

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.