OCE-PRF: Quantifying the genetic and epigenetic contribution to stress response in corals

概述：全球和局部压力因素的结合威胁着珊瑚礁生态系统的持久性。大气中的二氧化碳和全球平均温度预计将显著增加。大气中的二氧化碳迅速涌入海洋将导致海洋酸化（OA），或者海水的缓冲能力和化学性质发生变化，导致pH值和碳酸盐离子下降。这些压力因素加在一起，预计将导致大规模珊瑚白化，珊瑚钙化率下降40%以上，甚至灭绝。据认为，目前的气候变化速度将超过珊瑚礁进行必要的进化适应的潜力。然而，珊瑚对压力和物种生存差异的反应存在巨大差异，这表明一些珊瑚具有更好地应对气候变化的机制。这些机制包括与遗传适应相关的创新，通过亲本效应通过表观遗传机制快速适应，以及相关的共生群落（共生菌、细菌、真菌和病毒）。在珊瑚中，这些因素对恢复力的总体贡献尚未得到充分研究。该研究员的博士研究首次通过跨代驯化（即表观遗传过程）确定了珊瑚后代对OA和温度升高的积极反应。该研究员将采用新颖的实验方法来测试假设，这些假设表明，珊瑚对温度升高和OA的不利影响的反应和抵抗比以前认为的更大的遗传、表观遗传和共生潜力。如果这是真的，这项研究的结果将有可能改变我们对珊瑚对环境压力的反应的理解，并对珊瑚礁生态系统的未来进行良好的参数化预测。本研究的目的是量化遗传、表观遗传和共生对造礁珊瑚应激反应的贡献。智力价值：海洋通过粮食生产、经济、调节大气气体、气候、供水和防止物理干扰等因素，在人类健康方面发挥着重要作用。虽然珊瑚礁只占海洋的一小部分（1%），但它们创造了巨大的收入，每年价值数千亿美元。通过描述和量化潜在的遗传、表观遗传和共生过程的恢复力和抵抗力，这项研究将促进我们对气候变化对珊瑚礁造成的真正威胁的理解，以及由此产生的经济、物理和文化后果珊瑚礁生态系统资源损失。更广泛的影响：该研究员将负责博士，硕士和本科生的共同指导。拟议的研究将通过与夏威夷大学和威基基水族馆的公共旅游和教育部门的现有联系，广泛传播到夏威夷的大学和公共社区，并通过国际科学会议和同行评议期刊的出版物，以及实验研究和分析的在线视频教程。主办机构是夏威夷大学马诺阿分校的夏威夷海洋生物研究所（HIMB）和詹姆斯库克大学（JCU）的澳大利亚研究委员会卓越中心。它们共同提供了位于珊瑚礁上的理想组织来进行研究，扩大科学参与，并提供多样化的国际指导和与世界专家建立联系的丰富机会。导师包括：(1)主要导师和专家珊瑚生物学家Ruth D. Gates， HIMB博士；(2)幼虫生物学和数量遗传学专家Robert J. Toonen博士；(3) JCU国际导师、超级科学研究员、珊瑚应激反应和珊瑚微生物关联专家Tracy D. Ainsworth博士。这些导师在珊瑚生物学、遗传学、共生关系和实验设计方面提供了世界级的专业知识。

Overview: A combination of global and local stressors threaten the persistence of coral reef ecosystems. Atmospheric CO2 and global mean temperatures are expected to increase significantly. The rapid influx of atmospheric CO2 into the oceans will result in ocean acidification (OA), or a shift in the buffering capacity and chemistry of seawater leading to declines in pH and carbonate ions. Together, these stressors are predicted to result in mass coral bleaching, declines in coral calcification of more than 40%, and even extinction. It is thought that the current rate of climate change will outpace the potential for coral reefs to undergo necessary evolutionary adaptation. There is, however, enormous variability in the response of corals to stress and differential survival of species, suggesting that some corals possess mechanisms to better respond to climate change. These mechanisms include innovations related to genetic adaptation, rapid acclimatization through epigenetic mechanisms via parental effects, and the associated symbiotic communities (Symbiodinium, bacteria, fungi, and viruses). In corals, the overall contribution of these factors to resilience is understudied. The fellow's PhD research was the first to identify positive responses of coral offspring to OA and increasing temperature via trans-generational acclimatization (i.e., an epigenetic process). The fellow will employ novel experimental approaches to test hypotheses suggesting that there is a greater genetic, epigenetic, and symbiotic potential for corals to respond to and resist the adverse effects of increased temperature and OA than was previously thought. If true, the outcome of this research will have the potential to transform our understanding of coral response to environmental stress and to develop well-parameterized predictions of the future of coral reef ecosystems. The objectives of this research are to quantify the genetic, epigenetic, and symbiotic contributions to stress response in reef-building corals. Intellectual Merit: The oceans play an important role in human health through factors such as food production, economics, and regulation of atmospheric gases, climate, water supply, and protection from physical disturbances. Although coral reefs cover a small proportion of the ocean (1%), they generate vast revenue, valued in the hundreds of billions of dollars annually. By describing and quantifying potential genetic, epigenetic, and symbiotic processes of resilience and resistance this research will advance our understanding of the genuine threats that changing climate poses to coral reefs and the resulting economic, physical, and cultural consequences of the coral reef ecosystem resource loss. Broader Impacts: The fellow will be responsible for shared mentoring of PhD, MS, and undergraduate students. The proposed research will be disseminated broadly to the university and public community in Hawaii through existing connections to the public tour and education department at the University of Hawaii and the Waikiki Aquarium, and internationally through scientific conferences and publication in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to online video tutorials of experimental research and analyses. The host organizations are the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB)and the James Cook University's (JCU)Australian Research Council Center of Excellence. Together they provide the ideal organizations located on coral reefs to perform the research, to broaden scientific participation, and to provide diverse international mentoring and prolific networking opportunities with world experts. The mentors include: (1) primary mentor and expert coral biologist Ruth D. Gates, PhD at HIMB; (2) expert in larval biology and quantitative genetics Robert J. Toonen, PhD at HIMB; and (3) international mentor and Super Science Fellow at JCU and expert in coral stress response and coral microbial associations, Tracy D. Ainsworth, PhD. Together these mentors provide world-class expertise in coral biology, genetics, symbiosis, and experimental design.