Studying the effects of stressors on the cnidarian microbiome with computational models

珊瑚礁是造礁动物建造的结构复杂的栖息地。这些生物多样性热点为人类提供重要服务，但也是最受威胁的海洋生态系统之一。例如，海洋温度的微小短期变化可能会导致珊瑚礁大面积变白。6包括珊瑚在内的珊瑚虫具有复杂的微生物群。3，4微生物群的变化可能先于漂白事件，这表明线虫与其微生物群之间的共生相互作用在对外部压力的反应中发挥了作用。7墨尔本大学的海洋微生物共生实验室正在开发操纵珊瑚礁微生物群的方法，以帮助珊瑚礁对环境压力做出反应。8，9这些工具的有效设计和有效应用需要彻底了解处于压力和健康状态下的珊瑚虫微生物群的组成、动态和功能。曼彻斯特大学的圆周率实验室研究了一个令人惊讶的平行系统：哮喘患者的呼吸道微生物群。作为CURE项目10(https://www.cureasthma.eu/)，)的一部分，该团队正在开发数学和计算工具，以了解健康和哮喘微生物群的组成和动态，并开发能够引导哮喘微生物群恢复健康状态的噬菌体疗法。这个项目将把这两条研究路线结合起来，应用为缓解人类哮喘而开发的工具来帮助理解和保护珊瑚礁。在这个项目中，学生将实现三个主要研究目标：1.开发一个生物市场(即博弈论)模型来预测多物种共生将如何响应环境变化。2.建立分类模型来描述生物微生物群中的健康和痛苦状态。3.在有无环境应激源的情况下，描述刺齿动物微生物区系的功能特征。这名学生将在曼彻斯特为组件1和组件3工作，在墨尔本为组件2工作。墨尔本团队已经收集了这个项目所需的大部分元基因组数据，因此即使无法获得新的数据，项目也可以继续进行。然而，我们预计学生将在墨尔本或曼彻斯特的实验工作中收集更多数据并测试模型预测，从而确保学生在元基因组研究的湿方面和干方面获得专业知识。

Coral reefs are structurally complex habitats constructed by reef-building cnidarians. These biodiversity hotspots provide important services to humans, but are among the most threatened marine ecosystems. For example, small short-term changes in ocean temperature can lead to bleaching events that weaken or destroy large areas of coral reef.6 Cnidarians including corals have complex microbiomes.3,4 Changes in the microbiome can precede bleaching events, suggesting that symbiotic interactions between cnidarians and their microbiota play a role in the response to external stressors.7The Marine Microbial Symbioses lab at the University of Melbourne is developing methods to manipulate cnidarian microbiomes to help reefs respond to environmental stress.8,9 The efficient design and effective application of these tools demands a thorough understanding of the composition, dynamics, and function of cnidarian microbiomes in stressed and healthy states.4 This understanding is in its infancy. The PI labs at the University of Manchester work on a surprising parallel system: the human respiratory microbiome in asthma. As part of the CURE project10 (https://www.cureasthma.eu/), this team is developing mathematical and computational tools to understand the composition and dynamics of healthy and asthmatic microbiomes, and to develop phage therapies that can guide asthmatic microbiomes back to healthy states. This project will bring these two lines of research together, applying tools developed for the alleviation of asthma in humans to help understand and protect coral reefs.In this project, the student will achieve three main research objectives:1. Develop a biological market (i.e., game theory) model to predict how multi-species symbioses will respond to environmental changes. 2. Develop classification models to characterise healthy and distressed states in the cnidarian microbiome. 3. Characterise the functional profiles of cnidarian microbiota in the presence and absence of environmental stressors. The student will be based in Manchester for components 1 and 3, and in Melbourne for component 2. Much of the metagenomic data needed for this project has already been collected by the Melbourne team, so the project can go forward even new data cannot be obtained. However, we anticipate that the student will collect additional data and test model predictions with experimental work in Melbourne or Manchester, thus ensuring that the student gains expertise in both wet and dry aspects of metagenomics research.