RAPID:NSF-BSF: Can Reef-Building Corals Bypass Aging?

该项目在以色列和美国的综合野外和实验室实验将利用一场罕见风暴创造的条件来确定珊瑚是否表现出衰老的分子-细胞-生理效应，并将理清年龄和大小对衰老的影响。造礁珊瑚是长寿生物，有些物种的寿命比地球上大多数其他生物都要长。衰老的生物体通常会经历功能衰退和死亡率上升的过程，但珊瑚群落可能是这种衰老过程的例外，因为它们显示出随着年龄的增长，生育力增加和死亡率下降。然而，关于珊瑚是在功能层面还是细胞层面上经历衰老的问题仍然存在。这个项目将测试珊瑚的年龄是否与端粒长度有关，端粒长度是一种公认的衰老生物标记物，并测量年龄对代谢率、生长和繁殖的影响。世界上的珊瑚礁正处于危机之中，据预测，到2030年，珊瑚礁将不再是数千万人赖以生存的丰富和高度多样化的生态系统。因此，必须了解珊瑚与年龄有关的生理学，以便为子孙后代可持续地管理珊瑚礁生态系统。此外，由于珊瑚礁修复工作经常使用来自较老的亲代殖民地的小碎片的无性繁殖，因此了解这些碎片在移植后是否经历衰老是至关重要的。该项目还将支持一名硕士研究生，他将开发和传播关于珊瑚健康和老龄化的公共教育材料。珊瑚群体的息肉无性发芽，产生数千个克隆，被描述为负衰老的原型，尽管最近的证据表明情况可能并非如此。2020年3月在亚喀巴湾北部发生的罕见的温带气旋为研究衰老和衰老创造了一个非同寻常的、对时间敏感的机会，因为受损的珊瑚群落正在经历异常快速的组织再生，老息肉和幼息肉立即并存。这使得不寻常的研究设计可以解决在调查珊瑚和一般殖民地动物的老化过程中固有的挑战。利用尖端技术和互补的跨学科合作伙伴关系，研究人员将在亚喀巴湾进行实地研究，在以色列一个拥有80个水族箱的自动化设施中进行精确控制的中微体研究，并在美国一个领先的老龄化研究中心进行高级分子生物学研究。这些创新的实验将：确定珊瑚息肉的时序年龄(1)是否与端粒长度有关，端粒长度是细胞衰老的既定生物标记物和中心机制，以及(2)影响代谢率、生长和繁殖的生理功能。该项目将极大地促进对造礁珊瑚的生物功能和跨门衰老的关键方面的了解，并可能为在珊瑚礁恢复工作中使用珊瑚群落碎片的做法提供信息。纽约州立大学石溪海洋保护和政策项目的一名硕士学生将前往以色列参加该项目，并为公共教育推广准备视频演示、博客和社交媒体推广活动。该奖项由GEO-海洋科学-生物海洋学分部和综合组织系统-生理机制和生物力学生物科共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project’s integrated field and laboratory experiments in Israel and the US will leverage conditions created by a rare storm to establish whether corals show molecular-cellular-physiological effects of aging, and will disentangle the effects of age and size on senescence. Reef building corals are long-lived organisms, with some species living longer than most other organisms on the planet. Aging organisms typically experience a decline in function and an increased death rate, but coral colonies may be exceptions to this aging process because they show an increase in fertility and a decline in mortality with age. Questions remain, however, about whether corals undergo senescence on a functional or cellular level. This project will test whether a coral’s chronological age is linked to telomere length, an established biomarker of aging, and measure effects of age on metabolic rate, growth, and reproduction. The world’s coral reefs are in crisis, and it is predicted that by 2030 reefs will no longer be the rich and highly diverse ecosystem that tens of millions of people rely on for their livelihood. It is therefore imperative to understand age-related physiology in corals so that coral reef ecosystems may be sustainably managed for future generations. Furthermore, because reef restoration efforts often use asexual propagation of small fragments originating from older parent colonies, it is critical to know whether these fragments experience senescence after transplantation. The project will also support a master’s level graduate student who will develop and disseminate public educational materials about coral health and aging. Coral colonies, whose polyps bud asexually to produce thousands of clones, have been described as an archetype of negative senescence, although recent evidence suggests that this may not be the case. The rare extratropical cyclone that occurred in March 2020 in the northern Gulf of Aqaba created an extraordinary and time-sensitive opportunity to study aging and senescence because damaged coral colonies are undergoing unusually rapid tissue regeneration, with immediate juxtaposition of old and young polyps. This permits unusual study designs that can address challenges inherent in investigating aging in corals, and in colonial animals generally. Leveraging cutting-edge technology and a complementary, interdisciplinary partnership, the researchers will conduct field studies in the Gulf of Aqaba, precisely controlled mesocosm studies in an automated, 80-aquaria facility in Israel, and advanced molecular biology studies at a leading center for the study of aging in the US. These innovative experiments will: determine whether a coral polyp’s chronological age (1) is linked to telomere length, an established biomarker and central mechanism of cellular aging, and (2) affects the physiological functions of metabolic rate, growth, and reproduction. This project will significantly advance the understanding of key aspects of the biological functioning of reef building coral and of aging across phyla, and may inform the practice of using coral colony fragments in reef restoration efforts. An MS student in the SUNY Stony Brook Marine Conservation and Policy program will travel to Israel to participate in the project and prepare video presentations, blogs, and social media outreach activities for public educational outreach. This award was co-funded by GEO-Division of Ocean Sciences-Biological Oceanography and by BIO-Division of Integrative Organismal Systems-Physiological Mechanisms and Biomechanics.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.