Collaborative Research: MUCUS: Measuring and Understanding the Cassiopea Use of Space

合作研究：MUCUS：测量和理解仙后座对空间的利用

• 批准号: 2227069
• 负责人: William Fitt
• 金额: $ 13.1万
• 依托单位: University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-15 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2227069&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; MUCUS; Measuring; Understanding

In recent decades over 50% of living coral reefs have been lost due in large part to climate change and other anthropogenic factors. In contrast, jellyfish are overpopulating part of the oceans with an increased rate of blooms since 1950. Mucus produced by jellyfish may allow them to colonize new locations, thrive in warm environments, and provide glycoproteins for the surrounding community. Although there has been significant work exploring the role that mucus plays in vertebrate animals and how mucus affects microorganism swimming at the microscale, our understanding of the mechanical properties of jellyfish mucus, which may be up to tens of centimeters in thickness, is limited. The broad goal of this project is to determine if the success of the jellyfish Cassiopea and related species is due in part to their significant production of mucus and, associated with it, venom within stinging cells released by the jellyfish in structures called cassiosomes. This project supports interdisciplinary training for a postdoctoral fellow, two graduate students, and at least four undergraduates at the interface of biomechanics, mathematical modeling, physiology, and ecology. Training includes opportunities for students to connect with researchers at the Smithsonian Institution, the Key Largo Marine Research Laboratory, and internationally in Japan and Brazil. While scientific studies and news stories increasingly report on the reduction of distribution ranges for a number of marine species, scyphozoan jellyfish, conversely, appear to be undergoing range expansions due to increased bloom events. Temperature appears to be a major factor, enabling a longer reproduction period, as are anthropogenic factors that result in an increase in asexual reproduction. Increasing findings also suggest that jellyfish mucus may confer an advantage by playing a protective role against environmental stress and increasing temperatures while simultaneously enhancing feeding efficiency. To understand how mucus aids in the success of Cassiopea and other rhizostome jellyfish, the research team will use a highly interdisciplinary approach that combines the following tools: (1) mathematics and engineering tools to characterize the physical properties of the mucus and the motility of plankton and cassiosomes within it, (2) eDNA, traditional sampling, and the literature to benchmark how Cassiopea species distributions are changing, and (3) Nanopore eRNA sequencing to characterize the venom and other mucus proteins of interest and how expression of these proteins changes over time and with seasonal temperature fluctuations. The team will then apply these tools to (1) assess whether and how mucus reduces swimming speeds in a variety of planktonic prey while permitting or possibly enhancing active locomotion in cassiosomes, (2) determine the mechanisms by which mucus protects jellyfish from foreign objects and irritants, and (3) evaluate if and how mucus, cassiosomes, and nematocysts aid in the range expansion of Cassiopea by creating dominant mono-specific or mono-generic communities. In addition to providing interdisciplinary training opportunities for a postdoctoral fellow and graduate and undergraduate students, the award supports an annual workshop on Cassiopea biology at the Key Largo Marine Research Laboratory which will be expanded to incorporate presentations and tutorials related to this research project.This award is co-funded by the BIO-IOS-Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics program and the GEO-OCE-Biological Oceanography program.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.

近几十年来，由于气候变化和其他人为因素，50%以上的活珊瑚礁已经消失。相比之下，自1950年以来，水母在部分海洋中的数量过多，其繁殖速度加快。水母产生的粘液可以让它们在新的地方定居，在温暖的环境中茁壮成长，并为周围的社区提供糖蛋白。虽然已经有大量的工作探索粘液在脊椎动物中的作用，以及粘液如何影响微生物在微观尺度上的游泳，但我们对厚度可能高达数十厘米的水母粘液的机械特性的理解是有限的。这个项目的广泛目标是确定水母Cassiopea和相关物种的成功是否部分是由于它们大量产生粘液，以及与之相关的水母在称为水母体的结构中释放的刺细胞内的毒液。该项目支持一名博士后研究员，两名研究生和至少四名本科生在生物力学，数学建模，生理学和生态学的界面进行跨学科培训。培训包括让学生有机会与史密森学会，基拉戈海洋研究实验室以及日本和巴西的国际研究人员联系。虽然科学研究和新闻报道越来越多地报道一些海洋物种的分布范围缩小，但相反，由于水华事件增加，钵水母似乎正在扩大范围。温度似乎是一个主要因素，使更长的繁殖期，是人为因素，导致无性繁殖的增加。越来越多的研究结果还表明，水母粘液可能通过对环境压力和温度升高发挥保护作用而具有优势，同时提高了摄食效率。为了了解粘液如何帮助Cassiopea和其他根口水母的成功，研究小组将使用高度跨学科的方法，结合以下工具：（1）数学和工程工具，以表征粘液的物理性质和其中浮游生物和浮游生物体的运动性，（2）eDNA，传统采样和文献，以基准衡量Cassiopea物种分布如何变化，和（3）纳米孔eRNA测序，以表征毒液和其他感兴趣的粘液蛋白，以及这些蛋白的表达如何随时间和季节性温度波动而变化。然后，研究小组将应用这些工具来（1）评估粘液是否以及如何降低各种浮游猎物的游泳速度，同时允许或可能增强水母体的主动运动，（2）确定粘液保护水母免受异物和刺激物影响的机制，以及（3）评估粘液，水母体，和多囊藻的援助范围扩大Cassiopea的创建占主导地位的单种或单属社区。除了为博士后研究员、研究生和本科生提供跨学科培训机会外，该奖项支持在基拉戈海洋研究实验室举行的Cassiopea生物学年度研讨会，该研讨会将扩大到包括与该研究项目有关的演示和教程。该奖项由BIO-IOS-生理机制和生物力学计划和GEO-OCE共同资助，生物海洋学计划。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。