BRC-BIO: Establishing Astrangia poculata as a study system to understand how multi-partner symbiotic interactions affect pathogen response in cnidarians

许多动物与各种各样的微生物形成复杂的联系，对宿主的健康有重大影响。该项目旨在了解宿主-微生物协会的变异性如何影响动物健康，特别是珊瑚。该项目使用Astria，一种濒临灭绝的造礁珊瑚的未受威胁的亲戚，作为了解珊瑚与微生物的相互作用如何影响疾病反应的模型。由于疾病流行，热带珊瑚及其相关的珊瑚礁生态系统正在经历急剧下降。拟议的研究结果将促进人们对珊瑚和微生物之间的联系如何影响抗病能力的理解。收集到的知识可用于指导珊瑚恢复工作。此外，该项目将为拉美裔服务机构的学生发展提供培训机会。将为德克萨斯州立大学的学生创造一种新的暑期研究体验，并将其与罗德岛州罗杰·威廉姆斯大学现有的暑期项目联系起来。每年夏天，一个由4-5名本科生组成的队伍将在两所院校从事与项目相关的研究和互惠交流。该计划将创建一个本科生研究人员社区，并为他们的职业发展提供支持。该项目还将支持每年两名研究生和一名早期职业研究人员的职业发展。该项目由BRC-BIO计划和生物海洋学(GEO)共同资助。共生协会在整个自然界无处不在，对宿主的健康有着重要的影响。然而，对这些关联中自然变异的程度以及这种变异对宿主抗病能力的影响的理解是有限的。该项目利用兼性共生珊瑚系统(Astria Poculata)来探索多伙伴共生体(宿主、光共生体、微生物组)的自然变异以及这种变异对宿主对病原体反应的影响。具体地说，拟议的项目将1)调查珊瑚多伙伴关系在不同种群中的自然变异，重点是共生体特征(微生物群组成；藻类共生体密度、遗传学和基因表达)的变异，以及这种变异对结构性免疫的影响；以及2)调查这种变异是否与对病原体的反应和疾病敏感性的差异有关。在研究自然变异时，我们将使用整合的组学技术来阐明每个共生伙伴的变异性如何影响其他伙伴。然后，我们将使用实验病原体挑战来确定这些关联中观察到的变异是否影响病原体反应。我们预测，在样本种群之间的共生关系将存在显著差异，这种差异将影响病原体的反应，并最终影响疾病的易感性。拟议的项目将通过促进对多伙伴共生如何推动动物宿主的健康和弹性的理解，为生态免疫学领域做出重大贡献。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。

Many animals form complex associations with an assortment of microbial organisms have significant effects on host health. This project aims to understand how variability in host-microbe associations affects animal health, focusing specifically on corals. The project uses Astrangia, a non-threatened relative of endangered reef-building corals, as a model for understanding how coral-microbe interactions impact disease response. Tropical corals, and their associated coral reef ecosystems, are experiencing dramatic declines due to increasing disease prevalence. The results of the proposed research will advance understanding of how associations between corals and microbial organisms affect disease resistance. The knowledge gathered can be applied to help direct coral restoration efforts. Additionally, this project will provide training opportunities for the development of students at a Hispanic serving institution. A new summer research experience for students at Texas State University will be created, and linked with existing summer programs at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Each summer a cohort of 4-5 undergraduate students will engage in project related research and reciprocal exchanges across the two institutions. The program will create a community of undergraduate researchers and provide support for their career development. The project will also support two graduate students per year and the career development of an early career researcher. This project is being cofunded by the BRC-BIO program and Biological Oceanography (GEO).Symbiotic associations are ubiquitous throughout nature and have significant implications for host fitness. Still, understanding of the extent of natural variation in these associations and the implications of this variation on host disease resistance is limited. This project leverages a facultatively symbiotic coral system (Astrangia poculata) to explore natural variation in multi-partner symbioses (host, photosymbiont, microbiome) and the effects of this variation on host response to pathogens. Specifically, the proposed project will 1) investigate natural variation in coral multi-partner associations across populations, focusing on variability in symbiont characteristics (microbiome composition; algal symbiont density, genetics, and gene expression) and effects of this variation on constitutive immunity; and 2) investigate whether this variation is linked to differences in response to pathogens and disease susceptibility. When examining natural variation, we will use integrative ‘omics techniques to elucidate how variability in each symbiotic partner affects the others. Then, we will use experimental pathogen challenges to determine whether observed variation in these associations influences pathogen response. We predict that significant variation will exist in symbiotic associations across sampled populations, and that this variation will have effects on pathogen response and ultimately disease susceptibility. The proposed project will serve as a significant contribution to the field of ecological immunology by advancing understanding of how multi-partner symbioses drive health and resilience in animal hosts.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.