EAGER: Coral Chimeras - A Novel Perspective on Coral Reef Ecology and Evolution

珊瑚是珊瑚礁生态系统的核心。大多数珊瑚都是生活在一个杯子里的生物群落，珊瑚虫，它们通过组织相互连接。一个关于珊瑚群落的潜在假设，类似于对人类和其他哺乳动物细胞的研究方法，是珊瑚群落中的珊瑚虫起源于单一的珊瑚基因型。但是，如果一个珊瑚群落实际上是由多种珊瑚基因型组成的，这被称为生物嵌合体呢？这一提议挑战了珊瑚群落基因同一性的假设，这可能会产生重要的生态和进化后果。例如，嵌合现象可能赋予珊瑚物种内部和物种之间的竞争优势。此外，如果一个珊瑚群落由多种珊瑚基因型组成，这些基因型可能对变化的环境条件作出不同的反应。因此，嵌合现象可能会影响珊瑚以及珊瑚礁对环境变化的反应。密西西比大学的本科生和研究生将为这项研究做出贡献。本提案的目的是研究珊瑚嵌合作为一种生态和进化现象及其对珊瑚礁生态系统的影响。将研究嵌合和非嵌合珊瑚群落的生态学和生理学，包括基因表达。此外，还将考虑细胞内共生双鞭毛藻（Symbiodinium sp .）的遗传特性以及嵌合体内珊瑚基因型的空间分布。了解珊瑚嵌合体的这些方面将使研究人员能够预测珊瑚嵌合体对一种常见的印度太平洋珊瑚物种——柱头珊瑚的影响。它还可能改变我们对珊瑚礁生态系统的生态学和进化的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Corals constitute the core of coral reef ecosystems. The majority of corals are colonies of creatures living in a cup, coral polyps, that are connected to each other with tissue. An underlying assumption about coral colonies, similar to the approach to cells in humans and other mammals, is that the polyps in a colony arose from a single coral genotype. But, what if a single coral colony was actually composed of multiple coral genotypes, which is referred to as a biological chimera? This proposal challenges the assumption of the genetic identity of coral colonies, and this could have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. For example, chimerism may confer a competitive advantage within and between coral species. In addition, if a coral colony is composed of multiple coral genotypes, these genotypes may respond differently to changing environmental conditions. Thus, chimerism may affect interpreting how corals, and hence coral reefs, react to environmental change. Undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Mississippi will contribute to the research.The goal of this proposal is to investigate coral chimerism as an ecological and evolutionary phenomenon and its influence on coral reef ecosystems. The ecology and physiology, including gene expression, of chimeric and non-chimeric coral colonies will be examined. In addition, the genetic identity of the obligatory intracellular mutualistic dinoflagellates, Symbiodinium spp. will be taken into account as well as the spatial distribution of the coral genotypes within a chimera. Understanding these aspects of coral chimeras will enable investigators to predict the implications of coral chimerism for a common Indo Pacific coral species, Stylophora pistillata. It will also potentially transform our understanding of the ecology and evolution of coral reef ecosystems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.