ROW: Nutrient Sources and Sufficiency for Symbiotic Zooxanthellae

对珊瑚礁群落的研究一直是为了了解为什么单细胞藻类，即zoothanthellae，能生活在动物细胞中，比如珊瑚和海葵的细胞。一个普遍的假设是，宿主细胞提供了一个高营养环境，否则营养贫乏的水域。Drs。库克和穆勒-帕克已经证明，虫黄藻（珊瑚和其他珊瑚礁无脊椎动物的藻类共生体）会受到无机营养物质的限制。本研究项目解决了营养限制的问题，重点是营养状况对虫藻生产力的影响，以及溶解源与宿主源对这些藻类营养预算的相对贡献。生物化学和生理技术将应用于实验室培养和原位珊瑚礁种群。研究结果将有助于解答与共生系统的调控、营养物质运输机制以及虫黄藻在珊瑚礁碳和营养物质循环过程中的作用有关的问题。

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.