NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: A New Paradigm for Symbiosis, Immunity Tradeoffs in a Coral Model System, Astrangia poculata

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式为《生活规则》领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。由该奖学金支持的研究将调查珊瑚中与共生和免疫力相关的能量权衡。硬珊瑚构成了珊瑚礁生态系统的结构基础，珊瑚礁生态系统是地球上生物多样性最丰富的生态系统之一，是许多国家重要的食物和经济资源。最近珊瑚疾病爆发的频率增加，导致珊瑚大量死亡，并威胁到这些生态系统的整体健康。珊瑚在热带珊瑚礁上的生存部分依赖于珊瑚和藻类共生体之间的关系，藻类通过光合作用为珊瑚提供能量。最近的研究已经确定，珊瑚和它们的共生体之间的关系导致了更高的总体能量预算，但代价是珊瑚的免疫力。然而，能量资源的增加反过来又会增强珊瑚对免疫挑战作出反应的能力。该研究员将招募不同背景的本科生来指导这项研究，并创建一个专业网络，支持对海洋科学感兴趣的女性。这项研究挑战了现有的范式，即共生是以珊瑚的免疫力和抗病能力为净代价的。利用温带珊瑚模型系统，该研究将整合转录组学、代谢组学和传统免疫分析数据，以了解共生体的状态如何影响这种珊瑚的基线能量收支和免疫力，以及它对病原体的反应能力。除了评估这些参数在共生和非共生的A. poculata菌落，该项目还将检查相同的参数在A. poculata共生体Breviolum psygmophilum。这种综合方法将产生定量和定性数据，以研究共生状态影响珊瑚和共生体的基因表达、代谢谱和免疫的假设。这些发现将为了解珊瑚如何应对疾病以及识别易受疾病爆发影响的珊瑚礁的模型提供信息。此外，通过在西班牙裔服务机构进行这项研究，该项目将通过招募本科生参与研究，同时为研究员提供指导这些学生的培训，从而扩大参与范围。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2022, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. The research supported by this fellowship will investigate the energetic tradeoffs associated with symbiosis and immunity in corals. Hard corals form the structural foundation of coral reef ecosystems which are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet and represent vital food and economic resources for many countries. The recent increase in frequency of coral disease outbreaks has led to mass mortality of corals and threatened the overall health of these ecosystems. Coral survival on reefs in the tropics is partly dependent on the relationship between the coral and an algal symbiont which provides the coral with energy through photosynthesis. Recent studies have established that the relationship between corals and their symbionts results in a higher overall energetic budget, but at a cost to coral immunity. However, the increased availability of energetic resources should, in turn, augment the coral’s ability to mount a response to an immune challenge. The Fellow will recruit undergraduates of diverse backgrounds to mentor in this research as well as creating a professional network that supports women interested in marine science. This research challenges the existing paradigm that symbiosis comes at a net cost to immunity and disease resistance in corals. Using the temperate coral model system, Astrangia poculata, the research will integrate transcriptomic, metabolomic, and traditional immune assay data to understand how the symbiont’s state impacts baseline energetic budget and immunity in this coral as well as its ability to respond to a pathogen. In addition to evaluating those parameters in symbiotic and aposymbiotic A. poculata colonies, the project will also examine the same parameters in the A. poculata symbiont Breviolum psygmophilum. This integrative approach will generate quantitative and qualitative data to investigate the hypothesis that symbiont state impacts gene expression, metabolic profile, and immunity in coral and symbiont. The findings will inform models for understanding how corals respond to disease as well as identifying reefs susceptible to disease outbreaks. Furthermore, by conducting this research at a Hispanic-serving institution, this project will broaden participation by recruiting undergraduates to work on the research while simultaneously providing training for the Fellow in mentoring these students.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.