Collaborative Research: Physiological mechanisms involved in the allocation of energy to reproduction in corals under thermal stress

珊瑚礁是多样化的热带生态系统，提供风暴保护，并支持沿海社区的渔业和旅游业的经济生计。全球珊瑚礁的长期健康受到海水温度上升的负面影响，海水温度上升导致珊瑚白化和广泛的珊瑚死亡，特别是在过去三年中。本研究的目的是确定特征和生理策略，导致成功的珊瑚繁殖和长期恢复，尽管漂白。这些资料可应用于珊瑚养护和管理工作。此外，这些调查结果将纳入社区外展活动，如下：在夏威夷，与夏威夷浸入式学校的小学教师一起举办讲习班；在华盛顿，与西雅图MESA（面向代表性不足的少数民族、妇女、风险和经济弱势青年的数学、工程科学和成就）合作，将科学基础与现实世界联系起来，并与教师合作制定海洋生物学课程计划；在宾夕法尼亚州，与费城学区合作，开展动手课堂活动，并带领学生到当地海洋进行实地考察，这些学校的少数族裔学生占90%以上。大多数先前的珊瑚白化研究都集中在成年殖民地从压力中恢复和适应环境的潜力上。然而，未来的珊瑚礁不仅需要成虫的生存，而且还将依赖于在热压力下继续有性繁殖。人们对珊瑚在压力环境中耐受和成功繁殖的机制知之甚少。这项跨学科的研究将描述与热应激相关的生理和表型反应，并量化珊瑚营养对生殖的影响。这项研究将集中在夏威夷一个重要的、占主导地位的珊瑚礁建造者身上，尽管白化，它仍有能力进行有性繁殖。目标是：(1)独立追踪亲本光合作用和异养对漂白和未漂白菌落配子发育的贡献；(2)建立配子发育过程中依赖不同营养来源的漂白和未漂白亲本菌落及其卵的营养蛋白质组谱；(3)利用蛋白质组学调查开发珊瑚营养状态的生物标志物测定方法。这项研究的结果将检测生物标志物，可以用于监测营养状况，并确定可能在漂白事件后恢复和繁殖的珊瑚物种。总的来说，这些数据可以应用于保护和管理工作以及开发准确的预测模型。

Coral reefs are diverse tropical ecosystems that provide storm protection and support economic livelihoods for fishing and tourism in coastal communities. The long-term health of reefs worldwide is being negatively impacted by increased seawater temperatures that have led to coral bleaching and widespread coral mortality, especially during the last three years. The goal of this research is to identify characteristics and physiological strategies that lead to successful coral reproduction and long-term recovery despite bleaching. This information can be applied to coral conservation and management efforts. Furthermore, these findings will be incorporated into community outreach activities, as follows: in Hawaii, to develop a workshop with elementary teachers from Hawaiian immersion schools; in Washington, with Seattle MESA (Mathematics Engineering Science and Achievement for underrepresented minorities, women, at-risk and economically disadvantaged youth) to connect science fundamentals to the real world and work with teachers to develop marine biology lesson plans; and in Pennsylvania, with the School District of Philadelphia to develop hands-on classroom activities and lead field trips to the local ocean with underserved high schools populated by over 90% minority students.Most prior coral bleaching studies have focused on the potential of adult colonies to recover and acclimatize from stress. However, future reefs will not only require the survival of adults, but will also be dependent upon the continuation of sexual reproduction despite thermal stress. Little is known about the mechanisms corals use to tolerate and successfully reproduce in stressful environments. This interdisciplinary study will characterize the physiological and phenotypic responses associated with thermal stress and quantify the impacts of coral nutrition to reproduction. The research will focus on an important and dominant reef builder in Hawaii that has the capacity to sexually reproduce despite bleaching. The objectives are to: (1) independently track the contribution of carbon and nitrogen acquired from parental photosynthesis and heterotrophy to gamete development in bleached and unbleached colonies; (2) develop nutritional proteome profiles of bleached and unbleached parental colonies and their eggs that have relied on different trophic sources throughout gamete development; and (3) use the proteomic surveys to develop a biomarker assay for coral trophic status. The findings of this study will detect biomarkers that can serve to monitor trophic status and identify coral species that are likely to recover and reproduce after a bleaching event. Altogether these data can be applied to conservation and management efforts and the development of accurate forecasting models.