Collaborative Research: Osmoregulation in marine dinoflagellates

合作研究：海洋甲藻的渗透调节

• 批准号: 1155376
• 负责人: Lisa Campbell
• 金额: $ 43.61万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-03-01 至 2017-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1155376&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Osmoregulation; marine; dinoflagellates

Marine phytoplankton live in a dynamic and variable environment. Changes in salinity, temperature and nutrients are major factors that control the growth and distribution of phytoplankton populations. Salinity can vary significantly in coastal waters, so many coastal phytoplankton species have evolved mechanisms to quickly regulate their internal water concentration, a process known as osmoregulation. In response to decreases in salinity, the dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, responsible for producing toxic red tides in the Gulf of Mexico, produces a rapid 10-fold increase in ladder frame polyethers (LFPs), which include the potent neurotoxins called brevetoxin. The functional role of LFPs in K. brevis is unknown; however, the production of such large quantities suggests that there must be a critical cellular role. An interdisciplinary approach combining physiological experiments, cell imaging, next generation sequencing, and metabolomic profiling will be used to explore the relationship between gene transcription and physiological/metabolic responses. To determine if LFP production is a common mechanism for osmoregulation in dinoflagellates, similar experiments will be conducted with additional species of dinoflagellates also known to produce LFPs. Changes in LFP production in response to low salinity may explain how K. brevis and other toxin-producing dinoflagellates can thrive in coastal ecosystems. The project's outcome will provide an explanation for toxin production in 'red tide' dinoflagellates and reveal how toxic dinoflagellates, with slow growth rates now, may compete successfully in coastal environments under future conditions. The project's broader impacts include training and education of a post-doctoral researcher, three graduate students, and undergraduate students using state-of-the-art techniques to address questions in evolution and ecology. Results will also be utilized in a graduate Molecular Ecology course taught at TAMU providing students with hands-on experience with actual experimental data for training in this rapidly emerging field.

海洋浮游植物生活在动态和可变环境中。盐度，温度和养分的变化是控制浮游植物种群生长和分布的主要因素。 盐度在沿海水域可能有很大差异，因此许多沿海浮游植物物种已经进化出了迅速调节其内部水浓度的机制，这一过程称为渗透压。为了响应盐度的降低，负责在墨西哥湾产生有毒的红潮的鞭毛藻酸盐，梯形框架聚乙烯（LFPS）的迅速增长10倍，其中包括有效的神经毒素，称为Brevetoxin。 LFP在K. brevis中的功能作用尚不清楚。但是，如此大量的生产表明必须有关键的细胞作用。结合生理实验，细胞成像，下一代测序和代谢组分析的跨学科方法将用于探索基因转录与生理/代谢反应之间的关系。为了确定LFP的产生是否是鞭毛藻中渗透调节的常见机制，将使用其他也已知会产生LFP的鞭毛藻进行类似的实验。响应低盐度的LFP产生的变化可能解释了K. brevis和其他产生毒素的鞭毛藻在沿海生态系统中如何蓬勃发展。该项目的结果将为“红潮”鞭毛藻中的毒素产生提供解释，并揭示有毒的鞭毛鞭毛酸酯如何在现在增长速度缓慢的情况下如何在未来条件下在沿海环境中成功竞争。该项目的更广泛的影响包括对博士后研究人员的培训和教育，三名研究生以及本科生使用最先进的技术来解决进化和生态学的问题。结果还将在TAMU教授的研究生分子生态学课程中使用，为学生提供动手实验经验，并具有实际的实验数据，用于在这个快速新兴领域的培训。