BRC-BIO: Establishing Astrangia poculata as a study system to understand how multi-partner symbiotic interactions affect pathogen response in cnidarians

许多动物与各种微生物有机体形成复杂的联系，对宿主健康产生重大影响。该项目旨在了解宿主微生物协会的变化如何影响动物健康，特别关注珊瑚。该项目使用Astrangia，一种濒临灭绝的造礁珊瑚的非受威胁亲属，作为了解珊瑚-微生物相互作用如何影响疾病反应的模型。热带珊瑚及其相关的珊瑚礁生态系统由于疾病流行率的增加而急剧减少。拟议研究的结果将促进对珊瑚和微生物之间的关联如何影响抗病性的理解。所收集的知识可用于帮助指导珊瑚恢复工作。此外，该项目将为西班牙裔服务机构的学生发展提供培训机会。将为德克萨斯州立大学的学生创造一个新的暑期研究体验，并与罗得岛的罗杰威廉姆斯大学现有的暑期项目联系起来。每年夏天，4-5名本科生将在两个机构从事项目相关的研究和互惠交流。该计划将创建一个本科研究人员社区，并为他们的职业发展提供支持。该项目还将每年支持两名研究生和一名早期职业研究人员的职业发展。该项目由BRC-BIO项目和生物海洋学（GEO）共同资助。共生协会在自然界中无处不在，对宿主适应性有重要影响。然而，对这些关联中自然变异的程度以及这种变异对宿主抗病性的影响的理解是有限的。该项目利用一个共生珊瑚系统（Astrangia poculata）来探索多伙伴共生（宿主，光合共生体，微生物组）的自然变化以及这种变化对宿主对病原体反应的影响。具体而言，拟议的项目将1）调查珊瑚多伙伴协会在人群中的自然变化，重点是共生体特征（微生物组成;藻类共生体密度，遗传学和基因表达）的变化以及这种变化对组成性免疫的影响;和2）调查这种变化是否与对病原体和疾病易感性的反应差异有关。在研究自然变异时，我们将使用整合组学技术来阐明每个共生伙伴的变异性如何影响其他共生伙伴。然后，我们将使用实验性病原体挑战来确定这些关联中观察到的变化是否影响病原体反应。我们预测，将存在显着的变化，在整个采样人群的共生协会，这种变化将对病原体的反应和最终的疾病易感性的影响。该项目将为生态免疫学领域做出重大贡献，促进对多伙伴共生关系如何驱动动物宿主健康和恢复力的理解。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Many animals form complex associations with an assortment of microbial organisms have significant effects on host health. This project aims to understand how variability in host-microbe associations affects animal health, focusing specifically on corals. The project uses Astrangia, a non-threatened relative of endangered reef-building corals, as a model for understanding how coral-microbe interactions impact disease response. Tropical corals, and their associated coral reef ecosystems, are experiencing dramatic declines due to increasing disease prevalence. The results of the proposed research will advance understanding of how associations between corals and microbial organisms affect disease resistance. The knowledge gathered can be applied to help direct coral restoration efforts. Additionally, this project will provide training opportunities for the development of students at a Hispanic serving institution. A new summer research experience for students at Texas State University will be created, and linked with existing summer programs at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Each summer a cohort of 4-5 undergraduate students will engage in project related research and reciprocal exchanges across the two institutions. The program will create a community of undergraduate researchers and provide support for their career development. The project will also support two graduate students per year and the career development of an early career researcher. This project is being cofunded by the BRC-BIO program and Biological Oceanography (GEO).Symbiotic associations are ubiquitous throughout nature and have significant implications for host fitness. Still, understanding of the extent of natural variation in these associations and the implications of this variation on host disease resistance is limited. This project leverages a facultatively symbiotic coral system (Astrangia poculata) to explore natural variation in multi-partner symbioses (host, photosymbiont, microbiome) and the effects of this variation on host response to pathogens. Specifically, the proposed project will 1) investigate natural variation in coral multi-partner associations across populations, focusing on variability in symbiont characteristics (microbiome composition; algal symbiont density, genetics, and gene expression) and effects of this variation on constitutive immunity; and 2) investigate whether this variation is linked to differences in response to pathogens and disease susceptibility. When examining natural variation, we will use integrative ‘omics techniques to elucidate how variability in each symbiotic partner affects the others. Then, we will use experimental pathogen challenges to determine whether observed variation in these associations influences pathogen response. We predict that significant variation will exist in symbiotic associations across sampled populations, and that this variation will have effects on pathogen response and ultimately disease susceptibility. The proposed project will serve as a significant contribution to the field of ecological immunology by advancing understanding of how multi-partner symbioses drive health and resilience in animal hosts.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.