Collaborative Research: Constitutive and Inducible Predation Defenses in Cyanobacteria

合作研究：蓝藻的组成型和诱导型捕食防御

• 批准号: 1021421
• 负责人: Brian Palenik
• 金额: $ 62.9万
• 依托单位: University of California-San Diego Scripps Inst of Oceanography
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1021421&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Constitutive; Inducible; Predation

Terrestrial plants have diverse and sophisticated mechanisms for defending against predation and pathogens, but the defenses of photosynthetic microbes in aquatic ecosystems are much less well understood. Synechococcus are aquatic/marine cyanobacteria that substantially contribute to global primary productivity. This project will employ two main approaches to study Synechococcus defenses against protist predators. Experiments will examine the mechanism(s) by which cell surface proteins provide a constitutive (continuously expressed) defense and assay the generality of this defense among Synechococcus strains and against diverse predator types. Secondly, co-culture techniques, in which Synechococcus are grown in the presence of predators, will be used to characterize protein-based induced defenses that may arise in response to predation. The formation of aggregates as a possible induced defense by Synechococcus will also be examined in field and laboratory settings. Aggregate formation is important for the biogeochemistry and ecological functioning of planktonic communities since aggregates can be the site of unique biogeochemical processes. The research is cross-cutting on a number of levels: it examines constitutive and induced defenses in both controlled laboratory and natural settings; it leverages the suite of available Synechococcus genomes to enable a mechanistic investigation of microbial defense processes; and it represents a synthesis of ecological and genomic approaches to the study of microbial interactions that are fundamental to biogeochemical cycling and the maintenance of biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Broader impacts of this project include support of graduate and undergraduate students, including ethnic minority participants in Shannon Point Marine Center's Multicultural Initiatives in Marine Science Undergraduate Program (MIMSUP). Other impacts include development of instructional modules for elementary and high school students, and maintenance and distribution of culture collections.

陆地植物具有防御捕食和病原体的多种机制，但是水生生态系统中光合微生物的防御能力知之甚少。合成菌是水生/海洋蓝细菌，其基本上有助于全球主要的生产力。该项目将采用两种主要方法来研究针对原生掠食者的抗疫苗防御。实验将检查细胞表面蛋白提供构成性（连续表达）防御的机制，并测定Syechococcus菌株中这种防御和针对多种捕食者类型的一般性。其次，在捕食者存在下生长的共培养技术将用于表征基于蛋白质的诱导防御剂，这些防御可能会响应捕食而产生。在野外和实验室环境中，还将检查骨料作为可能的诱导防御的形成。骨料形成对于浮游生物群落的生物地球化学和生态功能很重要，因为骨料可以成为独特的生物地球化学过程的位置。这项研究是在许多层面上进行的：它检查了受控实验室和自然环境中的构成和诱导的防御；它利用了可用的合子基因组的套件来对微生物防御过程进行机械研究。它代表了生态和基因组方法的合成，用于研究微生物相互作用的研究，这些相互作用是生物地球化学循环和水生生态系统中生物多样性的维持。该项目的更广泛影响包括支持研究生和本科生，包括Shannon Point Marine Center在海洋科学本科课程（MIMSUP）中的少数民族参与者。其他影响包括为小学和高中生开发教学模块，以及文化收藏的维护和分发。