Nutrient Sources and Sufficiency for Symbiotic Zooxanthellae

对珊瑚礁群落的研究一直致力于学习 为什么单细胞藻类，虫藻，生活在动物细胞中， 就像珊瑚和海葵一样。 一个普遍的假设是， 宿主细胞提供高营养环境， 营养贫乏的沃茨。 库克博士和穆勒-帕克博士已经证明， 虫黄藻，珊瑚和其他珊瑚礁的藻类共生体 无脊椎动物，可以限制无机营养素。 本研究 该项目解决了营养限制的问题， 营养状况对虫茧蜂生产力的影响 以及溶解与宿主衍生的相对贡献 这些藻类的营养预算的来源。 生化和 生理技术将应用于两种实验室培养物， 和原地珊瑚礁种群。 结果将有助于回答 与共生系统的调控有关的问题， 营养物质的运输机制和虫黄菌素的作用 珊瑚礁的碳和养分循环过程。

Research in coral reef communities has been directed towards learning why single-celled algae, the zoothanthellae, live in animal cells such as those of corals and anenomes. A popular assumption has been that the host cell provides a high nutrient environment in otherwise nutrient poor waters. Drs. Cook and Muller-Parker have shown that zooxanthellae, the algal symbionts of corals and other reef invertebrates, can be limited by inorganic nutrients. This research project addresses the question of nutrient limitation with an emphasis on the effect of nutrient status on productivity of the zoothanthellae and on the relative contribution of dissolved versus host-derived sources to the nutrient budgets of these algae. Biochemical and physiological techniques will be applied to both laboratory cultures and in situ coral reef populations. Results will help answer questions relating to the regulation and control of symbiotic systems, mechanisms of nutrient transport and the roles of zooxanthellae in coral reef carbon and nutrient recycling processes.