Dimensions: Collaborative Research: Life at extremes: Linking the phylogenetic and genomic diversity of ctenophores to ecophysiological adaptations in the deep sea

维度：合作研究：极端生活：将栉水母的系统发育和基因组多样性与深海生态生理适应联系起来

• 批准号: 1542673
• 负责人: Erik Thuesen
• 金额: $ 52.3万
• 依托单位: Evergreen State College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-15 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1542673&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dimensions; Collaborative; Research; Life; extremes

The deep sea is more than 90 percent of the inhabitable space on Earth, yet life there is largely a mystery to science. Ctenophores, also known as comb jellies, are marine predators found in all oceans, inhabiting both deep and shallow seas. Although fragile and difficult to study, they are biologically important, in part because they appear to have been the first group of animals to split off from all other organisms during evolution, even before sponges and jellyfish. Over evolutionary time, many marine organisms have transitioned their home ranges to and from the deep sea despite the tremendous differences between these two habitats, including light, temperature, and hydrostatic pressure. Such habitat shifts required dramatic genetic and physiological changes to these animal lineages over time. The relationships between comb jelly species indicate that species from a variety of different families have evolved to live and thrive in the deep sea. This project will compare closely related deep and shallow species at biochemical, physiological and genetic levels to understand how these transitions came about. It will answer questions about the fundamental mechanisms of animal evolution and develop publicly available tools for analyzing genomic data sets. It will result in the training of cutting-edge techniques for two PhD students, a postdoc, two masters students, and numerous undergraduates. Public outreach involving biodiversity in the deep sea and gelatinous animals will help educate and inspire appreciation of marine life.The main objective of this project is to understand evolution and diversification using cutting edge molecular analyses to investigate the deep-sea habitat as the generating force of novel biological adaptations. Ctenophore specimens will be collected using blue-water SCUBA in surface waters and remotely operated submarines in the deep sea to generate complementary physiological and genomic data across the full phylogenetic and functional diversity of ctenophores. With samples taken across a range of habitats from shallow tropical waters to temperate bathypelagic zone, the team will measure physiological capabilities and sequence transcriptomes and genomes. This project will develop novel algorithms to identify genes involved in depth adaptation and examine the genetic events that underlie physiological tolerances and adaptations to high hydrostatic pressures in the deep sea. To confirm the theory-based predictions of how gene sequence affects the properties of enzymes, proteins will be expressed and characterized in the lab. Collaborations between the students, postdocs and PIs involved in this project will substantially enhance an interdisciplinary workforce trained in both classical and cutting edge skills needed for contemporary biodiversity investigations.

深海是地球上可居住空间的90％以上，但生命在很大程度上是科学的谜团。 c骨载体，也称为梳果冻，是在所有海洋中发现的海洋捕食者，居住在深海和浅海。尽管脆弱且难以研究，但它们在生物学上很重要，部分原因是它们似乎是在进化过程中，甚至在海绵和水母之前，都是第一批从所有其他生物体中脱离的动物。在进化时期，尽管这两个栖息地之间存在巨大差异，包括光，温度和静水压力，但许多海洋生物已经过渡了他们的家园范围从深海范围。这种栖息地的转移需要随着时间的推移对这些动物谱系的巨大遗传和生理变化。梳果冻物种之间的关系表明，来自各种不同家庭的物种已经演变为在深海中生存和繁衍。该项目将比较在生物化学，生理和遗传水平上与密切相关的深层和浅层物种，以了解这些过渡是如何产生的。它将回答有关动物进化的基本机制的问题，并开发用于分析基因组数据集的公共工具。这将为两名博士学位学生，一名博士学位，两个硕士学生和众多本科生培训尖端技术。涉及深海和凝胶动物生物多样性的公共外展将有助于教育和启发对海洋生物的欣赏。该项目的主要目标是使用尖端分子分析来了解进化和多样化，以研究深海栖息地，作为新型生物学适应的产生力。将使用地表水中的蓝水水肺水肺和深海远程操作的潜艇收集c型标本，以在圆锥体的完整系统发育和功能多样性中产生互补的生理和基因组数据。从浅层热带水到温带浴的栖息地进行的样品，该团队将测量生理能力和序列转录组和基因组。该项目将开发新的算法，以鉴定参与深度适应的基因，并检查遗传事件，这些遗传事件是生理耐受性和对深海中高静水压力压力的适应性的基础。为了确认基于理论的基因序列如何影响酶的性质的预测，将在实验室中表达和表征蛋白质。参与该项目的学生，博士后和PI之间的合作将大大增强在当代生物多样性调查所需的经典和尖端技能方面培训的跨学科劳动力。