Seaweed diseases: understanding seaweed host-pathogen interactions to improve commercial seaweed production

海藻是新的超级食物，是矿物质，维生素，蛋白质和纤维的丰富来源。海藻水产养殖正受到越来越多的关注，并在欧洲迅速扩大，包括在英国西南部。然而，像陆地植物一样，海藻容易感染传染病，导致数十亿美元的农作物（如海苔）遭受重大损失。因此，找到预防或治疗此类疫情的解决方案至关重要。要做到这一点，至关重要的是要了解海藻疾病的生态驱动因素以及病原体、其宿主和与宿主相关的有益微生物之间的相互作用。海藻与其表面相关的有益细菌一起可以产生一套抗菌剂以抵御病原体和亲微生物剂以吸引有益细菌。我们的研究表明，这种防御能力的海藻holobiont是动态的，可以改变培养条件下，增加海藻的生长和减少病原体的感染过程中改变非生物因素。用糖海带（欧盟种植最多的海带之一）和杜勒斯（最受欢迎的烹饪海藻，市场需求不断增加），你将（a）测试不同的非生物方案，以提高防御能力，从而减少糖海带和dulse的感染（O 1和2），（B）鉴别抗菌剂（来自海藻和有益的相关微生物）有助于防御能力（O3和6），（c）绘制代谢信息并鉴定健康和患病个体之间上调和/或下调的代谢物（O 4），以及，（d）使用高通量测序来表征健康和患病个体的微生物群（O 5）。该项目将使用两种经济上重要的可食用物种，采用化学生态学、微生物学、分析化学和统计工具相结合的跨学科方法，测试海藻-病原体相互作用。这些知识将有助于改善英国西南部及其他地区的水产养殖实践，并最大限度地提高农业产量。

Seaweeds are the new superfoods, being a rich source of minerals, vitamins, proteins and fibre. Seaweed aquaculture is receiving increasing attention and is rapidly expanding in Europe, including in the South West of the UK. However, like land plants, seaweeds are susceptible to infectious diseases, resulting in major losses to multi-billion-dollar crops such as nori. Finding solutions to prevent or treat such outbreaks is thus crucial. To do so, it is vital to understand the ecological drivers of seaweed diseases and the interactions between the pathogen, its host, and the beneficial microbes associated with the host. Seaweeds together with their surface associated beneficial bacteria can produce suite of antimicrobials to defend against pathogens and pro-microbials to attract beneficial bacteria. Our research has shown that this defence capacity of seaweed holobionts is dynamic and can be altered by changing abiotic factors during culture conditions, increasing growth of the seaweed and decreasing infection by pathogens. Using sugar kelp (one of the most cultivated kelps in the EU) and dulse (the most sought-after culinary seaweed with an increasing market demand), you will (a) test different abiotic regimes to enhance defence capacity and thus minimize infection in sugar kelp and dulse (O1 and 2), (b) identify the antimicrobials (from both seaweeds and the beneficial associated microbes) contributing to defence capacity (O3 and 6), (c) map metabolic information and identify upregulated and/ downregulated metabolites between healthy and diseased individuals (O4) and, (d) use high-throughput sequencing to characterize the microbiota of healthy and diseased individuals (O5). This project will test seaweed-pathogen interactions using two economically important edible species using an interdisciplinary approach combining chemical ecology, microbiology, analytical chemistry and statistical tools. This knowledge will contribute to improving aquaculture practices and maximize farming yield in the south west of UK and beyond.