DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The evolutionary ecology of a vertebrate-microbe symbiosis

我们将研究珊瑚礁鱼（管形管蚜）和它的共生发光细菌（曼达巴发光菌）之间的共同进化。为了验证宿主鱼？鱼的生态和行为塑造并保持了鱼的特异性？这项研究将确定鱼类和细菌种群之间存在的遗传差异的程度，以及这些差异如何在空间和时间上相互关联。将对从日本冲绳的珊瑚礁收集的鱼类标本进行研究。我们将利用最近发展的群体遗传学方法，限制性位点相关DNA测序，以精细尺度分辨率确定鱼类和细菌群体的遗传结构。鱼类和特定类型的发光细菌之间的共生关系是许多海洋生态系统的重要生物组成部分，它们的持久性取决于它们的生物特异性。了解特异性是如何产生和维持的，现在尤其重要，因为海洋环境的变化，如海面温度上升和酸化，正在更快地发生。这些变化有可能通过改变两种生物的生态来解除共生关系。作为脊椎动物？微生物共生，这种协会也正在开发作为一个实验模型系统，用于学习脊椎动物，包括人类，如何获得，适应，并与有益的细菌合作发挥作用。该项目将通过为本科生提供研究培训，为科学基础设施做出贡献，并将促进与日本科学家和学生的国际研究交流。

We will study co-evolution between a coral reef fish (Siphamia tubifer) and its symbiotic, light-emitting bacterium (Photobacterium mandapamensis). To test the hypothesis that the host fish?s ecology and behavior shape and maintain the specificity of the fish?s association with the bacterium, this study will determine the extent to which genetic differences exist among populations of both the fish and bacterium, and how these differences correlate over space and time. Work will be carried out on specimens of the fish collected from coral reefs in Okinawa, Japan. We will use a recently developed method in population genetics, restriction site-associated DNA sequencing, to determine the genetic structures of populations of the fish and bacterium with fine-scale resolution.Symbiotic associations between fish and specific types of luminous bacteria are biologically important components of many marine ecosystems, and their persistence depends on their biological specificity. Understanding how specificity arises and is maintained is especially important now, as changes in the marine environment, such as increases in sea surface temperature and acidification, are occurring more rapidly. These changes have the potential to de-couple symbiotic associations by altering the ecology of both organisms. As a vertebrate ? microbe symbiosis, this association is also being developed as an experimental model system for learning how vertebrate animals, including humans, acquire, accommodate, and function cooperatively with beneficial bacteria. This project will contribute to scientific infrastructure by providing research training for undergraduate students and will promote international research exchange with Japanese scientists and students.