Exploring the adaptation and acclimatization potentials of tropical reef corals to Global Climate Change

世界各地的珊瑚礁正在减少，大部分死亡归因于全球变暖导致的珊瑚漂白--它们的光合作用微藻共生体的丧失。最近对未来全球气候变化的预测(GCC)引起了人们对世界珊瑚礁未来的严重担忧，因为GCC的热后果预计将在未来30-50年内加剧。到目前为止，我们衡量珊瑚礁对全球变暖的脆弱性的能力受到了限制，因为我们缺乏关于珊瑚共生环境适应和/或适应生态时间框架内热压力的能力的知识。为了能够预测和模拟珊瑚将如何应对日益升高的海洋温度异常，我们需要开始了解珊瑚共生体中耐热性的潜在机制。该项目将通过研究耐热性背后的分子机制和确定全球变化诱导的选择下的遗传特征，来确定珊瑚物种对全球环境变化的遗传反应。这一研究领域对于全面了解热带珊瑚生存和适应我们这个星球所面临的快速全球气候变化的潜力至关重要。在模拟和对照实验环境下使用基因表达谱方法，将使研究人员能够确定导致热耐受范围的分子水平效应，以及实现热习服所需的基因表达变化类型。该项目还将利用已确定的参与耐热驯化过程的候选基因作为遗传标记，在DNA序列水平上监测海水温度变化是否影响珊瑚物种。将评估环境变化造成的选择的性质以及珊瑚种群通过进化快速适应来应对全球气候变化的潜力。广泛影响：珊瑚礁生态系统为热带地区数百万人提供生计，但它们的未来不确定，因为我们仍然不完全了解珊瑚应对新的全球气候变化的能力--因此，该项目的结果与社会相关。该项目将产生的信息对于管理我们星球上目前和未来的珊瑚礁至关重要，研究结果将通过同行评议的出版物和在国家和国际科学会议上的介绍来传播。该项目代表了在珊瑚和共生生物的分子生物学和生态学领域具有经验的美国和澳大利亚科学家之间的合作努力。此外，通过由世界银行资助的全球环境基金资助的全球珊瑚礁目标研究与能力建设项目，将在与澳大利亚科学家合作组织的培训讲习班期间，将所产生的数据和方法传递给国内和国际学生。此外，该项目将通过培训一到两名研究生和几名本科生，在包括少数民族、本国学生和外国学生在内的多元文化环境中产生直接和重大的影响。这一环境将为年轻科学家提供参与开发从分子生态学到生理学的实验的机会，包括实验室和海洋现场实验/程序。罗德里格斯-拉内蒂最近在路易斯安那大学拉斐特分校开始了一个新职位和新实验室，他计划的倡议的一部分也是在他的实验室和当地社区之间建立关系，包括该地区几个少数民族服务机构的教师和学生。该项目的研究将在与路易斯安那州学校的互动中以及在UL Lafayette为社区学院和本科生举办的客座讲座中展示。这一倡议的努力旨在将我们工作的细节传递给不同的受众，这将提高人们对全世界珊瑚礁面临的问题的认识。

Coral reefs around the world are in decline with much of the mortality attributed to coral bleaching - the loss of their photosynthetic microalgal symbionts - resulting from global warming. Recent projections of future global climate changes (GCC) have given rise to grave concerns about the future of the world's coral reefs, as the thermal consequences of GCC have been predicted to intensify in the next 30-50 years. To date, our ability to gauge the vulnerability of coral reefs to global warming has been limited by our lack of knowledge about the capacity for coral symbioses to acclimatize and/or adapt to thermal stress over ecological time frames. In order to be able to predict and model how corals will respond to increasing ocean temperature anomalies, we need to begin understanding the potential mechanisms of thermal tolerance in scleractinian coral symbioses. This project will identify the genetic response of coral species to global environmental changes by looking at the molecular mechanisms behind thermal tolerance and by identifying the genetic traits under global-change-induced selection. This area of research is crucial to a complete understanding of the potential of tropical corals to survive and adapt to the rapid global climate changes that our planet is facing. The use of gene expression profiling approaches, under simulated and controlled experimental settings, will allow the investigators to identify the molecular level effects that account for thermal tolerance ranges, and type of changes in gene expression is needed to achieve thermal acclimatization. This project will also use the identified candidate genes involved in the acclimatization process of thermal tolerance as genetic markers to monitor whether seawater temperature changes influence coral species at the level of DNA sequences. The nature of selection imposed by environmental changes and the potential of coral populations to respond to global climate change by evolutionary rapid adaptation will be assessed.Broader Impacts:Coral reef ecosystems provide for the livelihood of millions of people through the tropics but their future is uncertain as we still do not fully understand the capacity of corals to respond to the new global climate changes - thus the results of this project is relevant to society. The information to be generated in this project is vital for managing the current and future coral reefs in our planet, and the findings will be disseminated both through peer reviewed publications and through presentations at national and international scientific meetings. This project represents a collaborative effort between U.S. and Australian scientists with experience in the field of molecular biology and ecology of coral and Symbiodinium symbioses. In addition, the data and methodologies generated will be transferred to both national and international students during training workshops organized in collaboration with Australian scientists through the Global Coral Reef Targeted Research & Capacity Building Project, funded by the Global Environmental Fund from the World Bank. Moreover, this project will have an immediate and significant impact by training one or two graduate and several undergraduate students in a multicultural environment that includes minorities, national and foreign students. This setting will provide young scientists a chance to participate in the development of experiments that range from molecular ecology to physiology, including both lab and marine field experiments/procedures.Rodriguez-Lanetty has recently started a new position and new laboratory in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and part of his planned initiative is also to establish a relationship between his laboratory and the local community including teachers and students of several minority serving institutions in the region. The research in this project will be showcased in both interactions with the Louisiana schools and in guest lectures presented to community colleges and undergraduates at UL Lafayette. The effort of this initiative is aimed at transferring the details of our work to a diverse set of audiences which will promote awareness of the issues facing coral reefs worldwide.