Exploring the adaptation and acclimatization potentials of tropical reef corals to Global Climate Change

探索热带珊瑚礁对全球气候变化的适应和适应潜力

• 批准号: 1321500
• 负责人: Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
• 金额: $ 2.57万
• 依托单位: Florida International University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-07-10 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1321500&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Exploring; adaptation; acclimatization; potentials; tropical

Coral reefs around the world are in decline with much of the mortality attributed to coral bleaching - the loss of their photosynthetic microalgal symbionts - resulting from global warming. Recent projections of future global climate changes (GCC) have given rise to grave concerns about the future of the world's coral reefs, as the thermal consequences of GCC have been predicted to intensify in the next 30-50 years. To date, our ability to gauge the vulnerability of coral reefs to global warming has been limited by our lack of knowledge about the capacity for coral symbioses to acclimatize and/or adapt to thermal stress over ecological time frames. In order to be able to predict and model how corals will respond to increasing ocean temperature anomalies, we need to begin understanding the potential mechanisms of thermal tolerance in scleractinian coral symbioses. This project will identify the genetic response of coral species to global environmental changes by looking at the molecular mechanisms behind thermal tolerance and by identifying the genetic traits under global-change-induced selection. This area of research is crucial to a complete understanding of the potential of tropical corals to survive and adapt to the rapid global climate changes that our planet is facing. The use of gene expression profiling approaches, under simulated and controlled experimental settings, will allow the investigators to identify the molecular level effects that account for thermal tolerance ranges, and type of changes in gene expression is needed to achieve thermal acclimatization. This project will also use the identified candidate genes involved in the acclimatization process of thermal tolerance as genetic markers to monitor whether seawater temperature changes influence coral species at the level of DNA sequences. The nature of selection imposed by environmental changes and the potential of coral populations to respond to global climate change by evolutionary rapid adaptation will be assessed.Broader Impacts:Coral reef ecosystems provide for the livelihood of millions of people through the tropics but their future is uncertain as we still do not fully understand the capacity of corals to respond to the new global climate changes - thus the results of this project is relevant to society. The information to be generated in this project is vital for managing the current and future coral reefs in our planet, and the findings will be disseminated both through peer reviewed publications and through presentations at national and international scientific meetings. This project represents a collaborative effort between U.S. and Australian scientists with experience in the field of molecular biology and ecology of coral and Symbiodinium symbioses. In addition, the data and methodologies generated will be transferred to both national and international students during training workshops organized in collaboration with Australian scientists through the Global Coral Reef Targeted Research & Capacity Building Project, funded by the Global Environmental Fund from the World Bank. Moreover, this project will have an immediate and significant impact by training one or two graduate and several undergraduate students in a multicultural environment that includes minorities, national and foreign students. This setting will provide young scientists a chance to participate in the development of experiments that range from molecular ecology to physiology, including both lab and marine field experiments/procedures.Rodriguez-Lanetty has recently started a new position and new laboratory in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and part of his planned initiative is also to establish a relationship between his laboratory and the local community including teachers and students of several minority serving institutions in the region. The research in this project will be showcased in both interactions with the Louisiana schools and in guest lectures presented to community colleges and undergraduates at UL Lafayette. The effort of this initiative is aimed at transferring the details of our work to a diverse set of audiences which will promote awareness of the issues facing coral reefs worldwide.

世界各地的珊瑚礁正在衰落，许多死亡率归因于珊瑚漂白 - 由于全球变暖而导致的光合微藻共生体的丧失。 对未来全球气候变化（GCC）的最新预测引起了人们对世界珊瑚礁未来的严重关切，因为预计海湾合作委员会在未来30 - 50年内会加剧。迄今为止，我们对珊瑚礁对全球变暖的脆弱性的能力受到了我们对珊瑚共生能力适应和/或适应生态时期的热压力的知识的限制。为了能够预测和模拟珊瑚如何对海洋温度异常的响应，我们需要开始了解硬质珊瑚珊瑚共生体中热耐受性的潜在机制。该项目将通过查看热耐受性背后的分子机制，并通过确定全球变化引起的选择下的遗传特征来确定珊瑚物种对全球环境变化的遗传反应。这一研究领域对于完全了解热带珊瑚生存和适应我们星球所面临的全球气候变化的潜力至关重要。在模拟和受控的实验环境下，使用基因表达分析方法的使用将使研究人员能够识别出解释热耐受性范围的分子水平效应，并且需要基因表达的变化类型来实现热适应。该项目还将使用与热耐受性适应过程相关的确定的候选基因作为遗传标记，以监测海水温度的变化是否会影响DNA序列水平下的珊瑚物种。将评估通过环境变化和珊瑚种群对全球气候变化的反应的潜力，将评估进化快速适应的可能性。BRODER的影响：珊瑚礁生态系统为数百万人通过热带的生计提供了生计，但我们的未来仍不确定，因为我们仍然不确定珊瑚对珊瑚的能力对新的全球范围的反应 - 这是对新的全球风光的反应，而这一响应是在新的环境中响应了这一结果，这是这一效果。该项目要生成的信息对于管理我们星球中当前和未来的珊瑚礁至关重要，并且通过同行审查的出版物以及在国家和国际科学会议上的演讲来传播这些发现。该项目代表了美国和澳大利亚科学家之间在分子生物学以及珊瑚和共生共生菌的生态学领域经验的合作努力。此外，在与世界银行全球环境基金会资助的全球珊瑚礁针对的研究与能力建设项目一起，通过全球珊瑚礁针对的研究与澳大利亚科学家组织的培训讲习班，将转移到国家和国际学生的数据和方法。此外，该项目将在包括少数群体，民族和外国学生在内的多元文化环境中培训一两个毕业生和几名本科生，从而产生直接而重大的影响。这种环境将为年轻科学家提供参与从分子生态学到生理学的实验开发的机会，包括实验室和海洋野外实验/程序。Rodriguez-Lanetty最近在路易斯安那大学的拉斐特大学以及他在计划的一部分中建立了一部分，以及在计划的一部分之间建立了新的实验室，以及在计划的一部分之间建立了新的实验室，以及在计划中的一部分，并建立了一部分的关系。该地区。该项目的研究将在与路易斯安那州学校的两种互动以及向Ul Lafayette的社区学院和本科生介绍的嘉宾演讲中展示。这项计划的努力旨在将我们的工作细节转移到各种各样的观众中，这将促进对全球珊瑚礁面临的问题的认识。