EAPSI: Identifying Octocoral-Symbiont Associations in Okinawa, Japan

日本冲绳是许多种类多样的软珊瑚（八栖珊瑚）的栖息地，它们主要依靠共生藻类生存。这些被称为共生菌的藻类生活在宿主珊瑚的组织中。冲绳的八珊瑚在很大程度上没有得到充分的研究，在一些物种中，宿主珊瑚的相关共生体尚未被确定。珊瑚受到各种因素的威胁，其中许多因素会导致这种共生关系的破裂（称为珊瑚白化），从而导致珊瑚死亡。自20世纪80年代以来，印度太平洋地区的珊瑚覆盖面积减少了大约50%，因此更需要确定共生生物的多样性，因为并非所有的共生生物类型都同样容易受到环境威胁。这项研究的目的是通过确定冲绳周围这些未被充分研究的八栖珊瑚的共生种群来研究未知的多样性，冲绳是一个特别有趣的地方，因为它是许多这些物种的最北端分布极限。这项工作将在日本冲绳琉球大学的分子无脊椎动物系统学和生态学实验室进行，与詹姆斯·雷默博士合作，他在日本八珊瑚和共生菌方面的专业知识将是一笔巨大的财富。通过使用水肺和/或浮潜，雷默博士和他的实验室成员将在冲绳周围指定的地点识别和取样来自一系列属的八珊瑚。然后，使用Reimer博士帮助开发的方案，从核糖体内部转录间隔区（ITS2型）的分析开始，使用一系列分子标记来鉴定内共生共生群落。由于预测这些物种将以共生菌C1型为主，因此将分析叶绿体psbAncr和可能的微卫星侧翼区域，以最大限度地提高C1型内的分辨率水平。这项调查将作为未来研究的指导，在那里它可以用作比较的基线，甚至有可能帮助预测某些物种的分布/生存在持续的气候变化影响下，如全球变暖。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和日本科学促进会共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，支持一名美国研究生进行暑期研究。

Okinawa, Japan, is host to many diverse soft corals (octocorals) that by and large rely on symbiotic algae for survival. These algae, known as Symbiodinium, live within the tissue of the host coral. Okinawan octocorals are largely understudied, and in some species, the host coral's associated symbionts have yet to be identified. Corals are threatened by a variety of factors, many of which induce a breakdown of this symbiosis (known as coral bleaching), which can result in the death of the coral. Following the approximate 50% loss of all Indo-Pacific coral cover since the 1980's, there is a greater need to identify Symbiodinium diversity, as not all symbiont types are equally susceptible to environmental threats. This study aims to examine unknown diversity by identifying the Symbiodinium populations associated with these understudied octocorals around Okinawa, a location of particular interest because it is the northernmost distribution limit for many of these species. This work will be done at the Molecular Invertebrate Systematics and Ecology Lab at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan, in collaboration with Dr. James Reimer, whose expertise with both Japanese octocorals and Symbiodinium will be a big asset.With the use of SCUBA and/or snorkeling, octocorals from a range of genera will be identified and sampled from locations surrounding Okinawa, specified by Dr. Reimer and his lab members. The endosymbiont Symbiodinium communities will then be identified using a series of molecular markers, beginning with analyses of the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer regions (ITS2 types), using protocols in which Dr. Reimer helped develop. Since it is predicted that these species will be dominated by Symbiodinium type C1, chloroplast psbAncr and possibly microsatellite flanking regions will then be analyzed to maximize the level of resolution within type C1. This survey will serve as a guide for future research, where it can be used as a baseline for comparisons and could even have the potential to aid in predicting certain species distributions/survivorship under ongoing climate change impacts such as global warming.This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program ,supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.