RAPID: Discovering Global Diversity in Pelagic Symbioses (Vessels of Opportunity)

不同物种之间的密切关系，即共生，是广泛而重要的生物相互作用。共生是许多自然界奇迹的组成部分，例如珊瑚礁和古老的森林，并且是维持地球和人类健康的最重要的关系之一，包括昆虫为开花植物授粉，以及大型动物的肠道微生物群。然而，我们对海洋中的共生生物的了解还很少--海洋覆盖了地球表面的70%，构成了地球可居住体积的99%。该项目的目标是对与水母和专门在沿海和海洋开放水域谋生的其他动物有关的共生体的多样性进行一次快速和对时间敏感的全球调查。这项研究将为地球上一些最广泛和生态上最重要的捕食者适应世界上最大的栖息地的生活提供洞察力。这些共生体还可能发挥其他重要作用，直接影响全球碳泵，并间接影响渔业、发电和旅游业等各种沿海人类活动。该项目包括一个多元化的团队，并为本科生、研究生和早期职业研究人员提供培训机会。遗传分析表明，海洋后生动物物种多样性远远大于历史估计，海洋微生物多样性巨大。这个项目探索了这样一个想法，即我们现在已经准备好发现不同的海洋后生动物-微生物远洋共生生物。对胶状浮游动物的快速全球调查--一种在多个门中独立进化的关键的汇聚功能表型--旨在估计共生体的流行率、共生体的多样性，以及在地理上，即在物种内的种群之间和在分类学上(在物种和高等分类群的水平上)，关联性是受限的还是灵活的。该项目将[1]在水生共生基因组学(ASG)计划的基础上建立和扩展收集，[2]收集不同分类群的复制样本，以标准化的方式保存用于多个传统和组学分析，并包括参考环境样本和[3]条形码寄主和主要共生体(例如，虫黄杆菌)和元条形码的具有代表性的标本横截面的微生物组。通过发现和记录海洋中上层共生生物，该项目还为与海底共生生物进行比较奠定了基础。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。

Close relationships between different species, i.e., symbioses, are widespread and important biological interactions. Symbioses are integral to many wonders of the natural world, such as coral reefs and old growth forests, and are among the most important relationships for maintaining planetary and human health alike, including the pollination of flowering plants by insects, and the gut microbiome of large animals. However, our understanding of symbioses in the seas — which cover 70% of the planet’s surface and constitute 99% of its habitable volume — is scant. The goal of this project is to conduct a rapid and time-sensitive global survey of the diversity of symbionts associated with jellyfishes and other animals that specialize in making a living in the open waters of the coastal seas and oceans. This research will offer insights into adaptations to life in the world’s largest habitat by some of the most widespread and ecologically important predators on the planet. These symbioses likely also play other important roles, directly influencing the global carbon pump, and indirectly affecting coastal human activities as diverse as fisheries, power generation, and tourism. This project includes a diverse team and provides training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and early career researchers.Genetic analyses have revealed that marine metazoan species diversity is much greater than historical estimates and marine microbial diversity is immense. This project explores the idea that we are now poised to discover diverse marine metazoan-microbial pelagic symbioses. A rapid global survey of gelatinous zooplankton—a key convergent functional phenotype that has evolved independently in multiple phyla—is designed to estimate the prevalence of symbioses, the diversity of symbionts, and whether associations are constrained or flexible geographically, i.e., among populations within species, and taxonomically (at the levels of species and higher taxa). This project will [1] build on and extend collections for the Aquatic Symbioses Genomics (ASG) program, [2] collect replicated samples of diverse taxa, preserved for multiple traditional and ‘omics analyses, in a standardized manner and including reference environmental samples and [3] barcode the hosts and primary symbionts (e.g., zooxanthellae) and meta-barcode the microbiome of a representative cross-section of specimens. By discovering and documenting marine pelagic symbioses, the project also sets the scene for comparisons with benthic symbioses.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.