Dissertation Research: The Role of Cnidarian Immunity in Pathogenic and Mutualistic Interactions: A Functional Genomics Approach

动物与各种微生物相互作用，这些相互作用从有害到有益。最重要的有益关系之一是刺胞动物（如珊瑚和海葵）和生活在刺胞组织内的单细胞藻类之间的关系。正是这种关系使珊瑚礁能够茁壮成长，并提供许多生态系统服务。这种关系的稳定性可能涉及刺胞免疫反应和藻类共生体之间的相互作用。然而，我们对刺胞细胞免疫的了解甚少。拟议的研究采用微阵列，一种同时观察数千个基因表达的工具，来表征免疫？工具吗?并确定这是如何发生的？工具吗?与有害和有益微生物相互作用。因为刺胞动物是相对简单的动物，这项研究将为动物免疫系统的发展和随后的变化提供深入的了解，这些变化允许更复杂的反应。这项研究将利用大量关于动物细胞和寄生原生动物之间相互作用的文献，比如那些导致疟疾的寄生虫，开始对有益和有害相互作用的相似之处和新奇之处进行比较探索。这项研究还将使人们更好地了解珊瑚白化和疾病，这两者都是造成珊瑚礁大量减少的原因。最后，这项研究将支持本科生培训和一些面向当地中学生、本科生和公众的外展项目。

Animals interact with a variety of microorganims and these interactions range from harmful to beneficial. One of the most important beneficial relationships is that between cnidarians (e.g., corals and sea anemones) and single-celled algae that live within cnidarian tissues. It is this relationship that enables coral reefs to thrive and to provide a number of ecosystem services. The stability of this relationship likely involves the interplay between the cnidarian immune response and the algal symbiont. However, we have a poor understanding of cnidarian immunity. The proposed research employs microarrays, a tool for looking at the expression of thousands of genes simultaneously, to characterize the immunological ?tool kit? of cnidarians and to determine how this ?tool kit? interacts with both harmful and beneficial microorganisms. Because cnidarians are relatively simple animals, this study will provide insight into the development of animal immune systems and the subsequent changes that allowed for more complex responses. This study will leverage a vast literature on interactions between animal cells and parasitic protozoans, like those that cause malaria, to initiate a comparative exploration of the parallels and novelties of beneficial and harmful interactions. This research will also enable a better understanding of coral bleaching and disease, both of which are responsible for substantial coral reef decline. Finally, this research will support undergraduate training and a number of outreach programs catering to local middle-school students, undergraduates, and the general public.