BRC-BIO: Defining metabolic complementation within the sea anemone microbiome

大多数动物都有一个复杂的微生物物种，统称为微生物组。然而，目前还不清楚这些微生物如何合作，以提高真核宿主的健身，健康和生存。该提案旨在促进对海葵（aiptasia）微生物组内代谢合作的理解。Aiptasia是研究刺胞藻共生关系的重要模式系统，通常用于更好地了解珊瑚礁的漂白现象。这项研究的一个预期成果是发展一个综合的理解的微生物组在刺胞动物共生的作用。考虑到珊瑚礁的迅速衰退以及对微生物组工程的日益关注，以更好地保护和增强这些标志性生态系统的生存，拟议的工作将有助于指导目前正在珊瑚礁恢复工作中实施的益生菌解决方案。该项目还将为各个职业阶段的年轻研究人员提供短期和长期培训。学生研究人员将从加州大学默塞德的学生中招募，这是一个西班牙裔服务机构。作为拟议工作的核心，研究活动将直接纳入本科生研究经验课程（CURE），该课程将为大约40名本科生提供微生物生态学研究培训。为三名本科生和一名研究生提供长期支助。最后，该项目将通过创建所需的基础设施来支持可持续的研究计划，以支持一个开始的教师。 微生物组是一个哨兵的集合，微观物种彼此相互作用，并与宿主相互作用，有效地形成了一个元生物体。在微生物组内微生物相互作用的基础上，存在由小分子交换介导的代谢途径的复杂网络。在理解微生物组如何工作以有益于元生物的整体健康和福祉方面的一个差距是确定细胞生物之间的代谢交换或同向性。该项目的总体目标是确定哪些微生物物种的组合对维持海葵Exaiptasia diaphana的健康和生存至关重要。具体而言，拟议的研究将（1）通过产生gnotobiotic海葵来量化微生物组对宿主适应性的影响，（2）将微生物分离物的不同组合重新引入宿主，以确定需要哪些伴侣来拯救和维持宿主适应性，以及（3）在重新引入微生物物种的选择组合之前和之后，使用组学技术比较微生物代谢的变化。将使用系统生物学方法整合所产生的Meta组学和生理学数据，以更好地探索真核宿主及其微生物组之间的代谢相互作用。这项研究将通过揭示机制，通过整合细胞代谢，使复杂的微生物组有助于机体的健康，从而推进微生物生态学理论。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Most animals house a complex assortment of microbial species, collectively known as a microbiome. Yet, it is unclear how these microorganisms cooperate to elevate the fitness, health, and survival of eukaryotic hosts. This proposal seeks to advance the understanding of metabolic cooperation within the microbiome of the sea anemone, aiptasia. Aiptasia is an important models system for studying cnidarian-algal symbioses and is commonly used to better understand bleaching phenomena on coral reefs. One expected outcome of this research is to develop an integrative understanding of the role of the microbiome in cnidarian symbiosis. Considering the rapid decline of coral reefs and the increasing attention towards engineering the microbiome to better protect and enhance the survival of these iconic ecosystems, the proposed work will help to guide probiotic solutions that are currently being implemented in reef restoration efforts. This project will also provide both short and long term training for young researchers across career stages. Student researchers will be recruited from the student population at the University of California, Merced which is a Hispanic Serving Institution. As a centerpiece to the proposed work, the research activities will be directly integrated into a course undergraduate research experience (CURE) that will provide training to approximately 40 undergraduates in microbial ecology research. Long term support is provided to three undergraduates and one graduate student. Finally, the project will support one beginning faculty member by creating the needed infrastructure to support a sustainable research program. The microbiome is a collection of sentinel, microscopic species that interact with one another and their hosts, effectively forming a metaorganism. At the basis of microbial interactions within a microbiome, lies an complex web of metabolic pathways mediated by the exchange of small molecules. One gap in the understanding of how microbiomes work to benefit the overall health and wellbeing of a metaorganism is identifying the metabolic exchanges, or syntropies, between cellular organisms. The overall goal of this project is to identify which combinations of microbial species are essential towards maintaining the health and survival of the sea anemone, Exaiptasia diaphana. Specifically, the proposed research will (1) quantify the impact of the microbiome on host fitness by generating gnotobiotic sea anemones, (2) reintroduce varying combinations of microbial isolates back to the host to determine which partners are required to rescue and maintain host fitness and (3) compare shifts in metaorganism metabolism using ‘omics techniques before and after the re-introduction of select combinations of microbial species. Resulting meta’omic and physiological data will be integrated using a systems biology approach to better explore metabolic interactions between eukaryotic hosts and their microbiomes. This research will advance microbial ecology theory by undercovering mechanisms, via the integration of cellular metabolisms, that enable complex microbiomes to contribute to the health of the metaorganism.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.