Interface Ecology: How do macroalgae control the quantity and composition of bacterial epibioses at their surfaces?

附生细菌群落具有深刻改变大型藻类与其环境之间的功能界面的潜力。试点研究强烈表明，共生的大型藻类物种的生物膜根本不同，即使它们来自同一殖民池。然而，不同宿主上生物膜的具体组成或藻类控制其生物膜的能力在很大程度上仍然是未知的。该研究将填补这一空白，为三种不同的大型藻类具有巨大的生态和经济意义：墨角藻，江蓠，扁石莼。我们的目的是分析特异性，结构和变异性的生物膜对这些大型藻类和主机的化学控制这些生物膜的特点。将通过16S rDNA分析（变性凝胶梯度电泳和测序）对表观细菌群落进行表征，然后进行测序。使用一种新的技术，允许模拟藻类表面上的连续排泄过程，大型藻类的天然表面提取物将被测试其控制天然海洋生物膜的形成，组成和动态的能力。

Epiphytic bacterial communities have the proven potential to profoundly modify the functional interface between macroalgae and their environment. Pilot studies strongly indicate that biofilms on cooccurring macroalgal species differ fundamentally even when they originate from the same colonizer pool. However, the specific composition of biofilms on different hosts or the algal capacity to control its biofilm is still largely unknown. The proposed research will fill this gap for three different macroalgae of great ecological and economical importance: Fucus vesiculosus, Gracilaria vermiculophylla, Ulva compressa. We aim to analyse specificity, structure and variability of biofilms on these macroalgae and the host’s chemical control over these biofilm characteristics. The epibacterial communities will be characterized by 16S rDNA analysis (degenerating gel gradient electrophoresis and sequencing) followed by sequencing. Using a novel technique which permits to simulate the continuous excretion process on algal surfaces, natural surface extracts of macroalgae will be tested for their capacity to control the formation, composition and dynamics of natural marine biofilms.