Collaborative Research: Origins and Spread of the Aspergillus-Gorgonian Coral Epizootic: Role of Climate and Environmental Facilitators

摘要：最近珊瑚礁疾病爆发的高发生率可能是由气候相关压力、新病原体输入增加或两者兼而有之造成的。 由于无法在海洋系统中使用传统的疾病管理方法（扑杀、接种疫苗、检疫），因此迫切需要了解和控制海洋疾病。珊瑚病最实际的补救办法是控制输入和传播。然而，我们不知道任何珊瑚病原体的起源，也不了解传播机制。 的曲霉-海扇珊瑚流行病是一个很好的模型系统，用于测试的假设，突发性海洋疾病的起源，传播和抵抗的相对重要性，特别是环境促进者的作用。在这个项目中，康奈尔大学、北卡罗来纳州查佩尔山大学、南卡罗来纳州大学和马里兰州大学生物技术研究所的研究人员将通过一个结合实验和理论方法的研究项目来研究这个系统。其目的是：（1）利用微卫星标记确定海扇曲霉病爆发的起源;（2）通过发展免疫测定法评价宿主抗性的作用;（3）实验评价环境促进因素在爆发中的作用;（4）评估感染风险的人口和空间决定因素;以及（5）通过嵌入基于代理的框架中的珊瑚种群疾病传播的空间模型，开发疾病爆发和传播的预测理论。该项目预计将产生广泛的教育和国际影响，因为将丰富墨西哥Akumal的本科教学计划，并在实地和国内研究机构培训高中生、本科生、研究生和博士后研究员。 该项目的主要智力价值是将野生动物疾病的当前理论引入一个易于操作的热带海洋研究系统。 该项目将得到加强，办法是寻求珊瑚礁管理的应用成果，并通过与海洋大气署和世界银行有针对性的研究举措的互动，在海洋生态学特别是珊瑚礁疾病方面形成新的方向。

ABSTRACTOCE-0326705 / OCE-0326983 / OCE-0326269 / OCE-0326698Recent high rates of disease outbreaks on coral reefs may be caused by climate-related stress, increased inputs of new pathogens, or both. The inability to use traditional methods of disease management in marine systems (culling, vaccination, quarantine) adds urgency to understanding and controlling disease in the ocean. The most practical remediation for coral disease is to control inputs and spread. Yet, we do not know the origin of any coral pathogen nor do we understand mechanisms of transmission. The aspergillus - sea fan coral epizootic is an excellent model system for testing hypotheses about the origins of emergent marine disease, the relative importance of transmission and resistance in outbreaks and particularly the role of environmental facilitators. In this project, researchers at Cornell University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of South Carolina, and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute will investigate this system through a research program combining linked experimental and theoretical approaches. The objectives are (1) to determine the origins of the aspergillosis outbreak in sea fans, using microsatellite markers;(2) to evaluate the role of host resistance through development of immunological assays;(3) to evaluate experimentally the role of environmental facilitators in the outbreak;(4) to assess demographic and spatial determinants of infection risk; and(5) to develop a predictive theory of disease outbreak and spread through a spatial model for spread of disease in coral populations, embedded in an agent- based framework.The project is expected to have broad educational and international impacts because will enrich undergraduate teaching programs in Akumal, Mexico, and train high school students, undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at field sites and at the home research institutions. The primary intellectual merit of this project is bringing current theory in wildlife disease to a tropical marine study system that is easily manipulated. The project will be enhanced by seeking applied outcomes for management of coral reefs and forging new directions in the ecology of marine and particularly coral reef diseases through interactions with NOAA and World Bank targeted research initiatives.