RUI: Stability and structure of temperate and tropical marine sponge symbiont communities in response to climate change.

该项目将研究海绵及其微生物区系之间的共生关系，以及海表温度升高对这些共生体群落的影响。 预计未来100年海表温度将上升，这表明许多海洋生境的紧张状况将加剧，对海洋群落的破坏性影响将更加严重。虽然海绵因其重要的生态作用而被公认，但就其对气候变化的反应而言，它们仍然是一个研究不足的群体。这些实验将促进我们对宿主共生体协会的重要方面的理解，以及海洋变暖对温带和热带分布的海绵的生态后果。 两种主要类型的海绵共生体将被检查。首先，海绵zooxanthellar协会将被用来测试重要的假设，涉及这些腰鞭毛虫的共生动态。 其次，海绵细菌协会将被用来研究增加SST的生态后果。 该项目将开发海绵共生体协会作为模型系统，用于了解生态和进化方面的多个合作伙伴协会使用现场和实验室实验。 此外，这些海绵将被用来探索宿主和共生伙伴的分子整合，通过差异基因表达的研究。 这些实验将在三个组织层次（即，基因、个体共生体和/或宿主以及群落）。 虫黄藻对这些海绵具有重要的生理功能，但我们对这些协会的灵活性及其对SST增加的反应的理解存在重大差距。 微生物共生体也被发现可以提高海绵的生长速度，转移碳，固定氮，并产生重要的次级代谢产物。SST的增加可能导致海绵产生具有生态学和药学意义的次级代谢物的能力降低。 这项研究将涉及在动手现场和实验室研究的本科生，他们将受益于该项目的协作性质。研究人员将把这些研究纳入他们对本科生和研究生的培训中，而在这个项目中产生的所有资源将被免费和广泛传播。

This project will examine symbiotic associations between sponges and their microflora and the consequences of increased sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on these symbiont communities. Projected increases in SSTs over the next 100 years indicate that stressful conditions will intensify in many marine habitats and that the destructive effects on communities will become more severe. While sponges are recognized for the vital ecological roles they perform, they remain an understudied group in terms of their response to climate change. The experiments will advance our understanding of important aspects of host-symbiont associations, and the ecological consequences of warmer oceans, for marine sponges with temperate and tropical distributions. Two major types of sponge symbioses will be examined. First, sponge zooxanthellar associations will be used to test important hypotheses regarding the dynamics of symbioses involving these dinoflagellates. Second, sponge-bacterial associations will be used to study ecological consequences of increased SSTs. The project will develop Sponge-symbiont associations as model systems for understanding ecological and evolutionary aspects of multiple partner associations using field and laboratory experiments. Additionally, these sponges will be used to explore the molecular integration of host and symbiont partners via studies of differential gene expression. The experiments will link dynamic interactions at three levels of organization (i.e., the gene, the individual symbiont and/or host, and the community). Zooxanthellae perform vital physiological functions for these sponges but major gaps exist in our understanding of the flexibility in these associations and their response to increased SSTs. Microbial symbionts have also been found to enhance sponge growth rates, translocate carbon, fix nitrogen, and produce important secondary metabolites. SSTs increases may lead to a reduction in the ability of sponges to produce secondary metabolites of ecological and pharmaceutical interest. This research will involve undergraduates in hands-on field and laboratory research and they will benefit from the collaborative nature of the project. The investigators will integrate these studies into their training of undergraduates and graduate while all resources generated during this project will be freely and widely disseminated.