Interface Ecology: How do macroalgae control the quantity and composition of bacterial epibioses at their surfaces?

附生细菌群落被证明具有深刻改变大型藻类与其环境之间的功能界面的潜力。初步研究有力地表明，共存的大型藻类物种上的生物膜根本不同，即使它们来自相同的殖民者池。然而，不同宿主上生物膜的具体组成或藻类控制其生物膜的能力在很大程度上仍不清楚。这项拟议的研究将填补这一空白，用于三种具有重要生态和经济意义的不同大型藻类：褐藻、江帆藻、扁藻。我们的目标是分析这些大型藻类上生物膜的特异性、结构和变异性，以及宿主对这些生物膜特性的化学控制。表观细菌群落将通过16S rDNA分析(变性凝胶梯度电泳法和测序法)，然后进行测序。利用一种模拟藻类表面连续排泄过程的新技术，将测试大型藻类自然表面提取物对天然海洋生物膜的形成、组成和动态的控制能力。

Epiphytic bacterial communities have the proven potential to profoundly modify the functional interface between macroalgae and their environment. Pilot studies strongly indicate that biofilms on cooccurring macroalgal species differ fundamentally even when they originate from the same colonizer pool. However, the specific composition of biofilms on different hosts or the algal capacity to control its biofilm is still largely unknown. The proposed research will fill this gap for three different macroalgae of great ecological and economical importance: Fucus vesiculosus, Gracilaria vermiculophylla, Ulva compressa. We aim to analyse specificity, structure and variability of biofilms on these macroalgae and the host’s chemical control over these biofilm characteristics. The epibacterial communities will be characterized by 16S rDNA analysis (degenerating gel gradient electrophoresis and sequencing) followed by sequencing. Using a novel technique which permits to simulate the continuous excretion process on algal surfaces, natural surface extracts of macroalgae will be tested for their capacity to control the formation, composition and dynamics of natural marine biofilms.