Collaborative Research: IMAGiNE: Quantifying Diatom Resilience in an Acidified Ocean

合作研究：IMAGiNE：量化酸化海洋中硅藻的恢复力

• 批准号: 2050550
• 负责人: Nitin Baliga
• 金额: $ 110.2万
• 依托单位: Institute for Systems Biology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-06-15 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2050550&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; IMAGiNE; Quantifying; Diatom; Collaborative; Research; IMAGiNE; Quantifying; Diatom

This research seeks to investigate how long-term environmental changes like ocean acidification will affect diatoms, a key microscopic phytoplankton forming the basis of many marine food webs. Diatoms account for ~40 percent of the primary production in our oceans, and a shift in their composition and abundance may result in dramatic changes in coastal ecosystems. A stress test will be developed to quantify the “resilience” of diatoms, i.e., the degree to which they can withstand environmental stress such as saturating light, ultraviolet radiation, or increased temperature. By applying this stress test to three model diatoms that inhabit different oceanic environments, Thalassiosira oceanica, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Thalassiosira pseudonana, this study will uncover whether ocean acidification will have similar or distinct consequences on the future fate of these important organisms. Furthermore, this study will also characterize molecular mechanisms responsible for the observed shifts in the resilience of diatoms. Mechanistic understanding of how ocean acidification might alter the resilience of diatoms will enable predictive and actionable strategies for better environmental stewardship. Additionally, this project will generate new high school curriculum on the concepts of resilience and collapse of complex systems encountered in our everyday life. The curricula will be disseminated widely through teacher training.Diatoms have evolved phenotypic plasticity to survive in fluctuating environments, and the capability to tolerate diverse types of stress. The proposed research addresses the challenge of quantifying how diatoms manage trade-offs between maintaining phenotypic plasticity and devoting resources to mitigating stress, which is central to predicting their resilience in complex environments. The stress test framework will enable the quantification of ecological resilience of a diatom, i.e., the degree to which a diatom population can tolerate a disturbance and persist without changing physiological state. By performing the stress test on three model diatoms representing different ecological niches, and in relevant conditions of current and future oceans (i.e., temperature, CO2, NO3, Fe, and light conditions), this study will allow the prediction of when interactions among specific factors will have synergistic or antagonistic effects on the resilience of diatoms. Systems level analysis of transcriptional (RNA-seq) and physiological changes coupled to hypothesis testing using CRISPR-cas9-based genome editing will provide predictive and mechanistic understanding of changes in diatom resilience in dynamic environments. The resulting knowledge, framework, and tools will serve as predictive indicators to forecast species partitioning and shifts in ecosystem function in changing oceans. Furthermore, the stress test framework and systems approaches will be generalizable to investigate resilience and other complex traits across microbial communities of environmental importance. This award is cofunded by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项研究旨在研究长期的环境变化，例如海洋酸化将影响硅藻，这是一种主要的微观浮游植物，构成了许多海洋食品网的基础。硅藻占我们海洋主要产量的约40％，其组成和抽象的转变可能会导致沿海生态系统的急剧变化。将开发应力测试，以量化硅藻的“弹性”，即它们可以承受饱和光，紫外线辐射或温度升高的环境应力的程度。通过将这种应力测试应用于影响不同的海洋环境的三个模型硅藻，Thalassiosira Oceanica，Tricornutum和Thalassiosira Pseudonana，这项研究将发现海洋酸化是否会对这些重要生物的未来命运产生相似的或明显的后果。此外，这项研究还将表征负责观察到的硅藻弹性变化的分子机制。对海洋酸化如何改变硅藻的韧性的机械理解将使能够实现预测性和可行的策略，以实现更好的环境管理。此外，该项目将为我们日常生活中遇到的复杂系统的弹性概念和崩溃的概念生成新的高中课程。课程将通过教师培训广泛传播。Diatom已经发展出表型可塑性，以在波动的环境中生存，并能够耐受多种类型的压力。拟议的研究解决了量化硅藻如何管理表型可塑性和投入资源来减轻压力之间的权衡的挑战，这对于预测其在复杂环境中的韧性至关重要。压力测试框架将能够量化硅藻的生态弹性，即，硅藻种群可以忍受扰动和持久的程度而不会改变身体状态。通过对代表不同生态壁ches的三个模型硅藻进行应力测试，以及在当前和将来的海洋的相关条件下（即温度，二氧化碳，NO3，Fe和光条件），本研究将允许对特定因素之间的相互作用对甲硅含量的抗性产生协同或拮抗作用的预测。转录（RNA-SEQ）和物理变化与基于CRISPR-CAS9的基因组编辑结合的系统级分析将提供对动态环境中硅藻弹性变化的预测和机械理解。由此产生的知识，框架和工具将作为预测物种在不断变化的海洋中进行生态系统功能的变化的预测指标。此外，应有的压力测试框架和系统方法可以概括地研究环境重要性的微生物群落的弹性和其他复杂性状。该奖项由综合有机系统和分子和细胞生物科学的部门进行了奖励。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准，通过评估来表现出珍贵的支持。