Great Barrier Reef Coral Sampling 2010

去自然环境，而不是像实验室这样的人工环境，对于真正了解细菌如何应对压力以及这种反应对它们的进化和生态系统的影响至关重要。为了研究这个问题，我们计划去一个环境，在那里几种环境压力自然频繁，我们的模式细菌，弧菌，是丰富的。珊瑚表面密集地分布着弧菌，这些弧菌暴露在由珊瑚共生藻类的光合作用活动产生的高浓度氧气中，以及来自太阳的强烈紫外线中，因为珊瑚礁就位于海洋表面以下。这是测试环境压力对细菌影响的完美自然模型。此外，已证明弧菌是造成一些珊瑚白化的原因，威胁着地球上最丰富的生态系统之一。我们将加入一艘监测澳大利亚大堡礁珊瑚健康状况的游轮，这给了我们一个独特的机会，可以在白天和海洋表面（高压力区域）以及夜间和深度（低压力区域）获取珊瑚样本。比较这些暴露在高和低环境压力下的样品将使我们更好地了解微生物对自然界压力的反应，如果我们想要管理和控制环境中的微生物种群，这是必不可少的。

Going to the natural environment, as opposed to an artificial setting like the laboratory, is essential to truly understand how bacteria respond to stress and the consequence of that response on their evolution and their ecosystem. To investigate this question, we plan to go to an environment where several environmental stresses are naturally frequent and where our model bacteria, the vibrio, are abundant. The surface of corals is densely populated with vibrios, which are exposed to high oxygen concentrations produced by the photosynthetics activity of coral symbiotic algae, as well as intense ultraviolet light from the sun, as coral reefs sit just below the ocean's surface. This is the perfect natural model to test the effect of environmental stress on bacteria. Furthermore, vibrios have been shown to be responsible for the bleaching of some corals - threatening one of the richest ecosystems on earth. We will be joining a cruise to monitor coral health on the great barrier reef in Australia, giving us a unique opportunity to access samples of corals during the day and at the ocean's surface (region of high stress) as well as during the night and at depth (region of low stress). Comparing these samples exposed to high and low environmental stresses will allow us to have a better understanding of how microbes react to stress in nature, which is essential if we want to manage and contain microbial populations in the environment.