Collaborative Research: NSF-BSF: Interbacterial and environmental signaling impacts on Vibrio coralliilyticus pathogenesis of coral

合作研究：NSF-BSF：细菌间和环境信号对珊瑚弧菌发病机制的影响

• 批准号: 2207168
• 负责人: Julia van Kessel
• 金额: $ 52.04万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-07-15 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2207168&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; NSF; BSF; Interbacterial

Reef-building corals provide habitats and nutrients for 25% of marine fish and invertebrates. Not only are coral reefs a critical ecosystem, but they also provide local areas with numerous ecological, cultural, and economic benefits. The world has lost about half of its total coral reef cover since the 1950s, which is attributed to threats like anthropogenic climate change and disease outbreaks. Increasing ocean temperatures correlates with increased disease incidence and outbreaks in coral. The marine bacterium Vibrio coralliilyticus is a pathogen that infects numerous species of coral and causes bleaching and tissue loss and other diseases. The focus of this research is to understand the signaling cues that promote V. coralliilyticus coral colonization and enable this bacterium to overtake the host’s protective microbiome and initiate disease in coral. An integrated understanding of V. coralliilyticus signaling and mechanisms of regulating virulence genes will contribute to the development of applied treatments for coral disease. Further, understanding the environmental cues that trigger outbreaks will be critical for disease management and prediction of outbreaks. The work proposed here also aims to demonstrate to the community how global warming affects coral, their natural microbiomes, and microbial pathogens. The three research institutions will collectively participate in four programs/committees to broaden dissemination of scientific discoveries and promote teaching, training, and participation of diverse groups: the Biology Summer Institute at Indiana University, Science Fest at Indiana University, The Alpha Program at Tel Aviv University, and the Science, Access, iNclusion, and Diversity committee at University of North Carolina Wilmington.The coral field has a wealth of descriptive observations of disease ecology and the bacteria isolated from diseased coral. However, there is a dearth of information detailing the environmental signals that drive disease initiation and the molecular mechanisms employed by coral pathogens to respond to these signals. Bacterial signaling is a core component of pathogenesis, and Vibrio bacteria are central models for studying quorum sensing control of virulence. The central hypothesis is that quorum sensing signaling and temperature variations control virulence genes required for V. coralliilyticus pathogenesis of coral. Preliminary data suggest that virulence genes include toxins that directly target host coral cells, toxins that indirectly affect the host coral by killing the protective natural microbiome and/or the Symbiodiniaceae endosymbionts, and protective genes that confer resistance to V. coralliilyticus against antibacterial compounds. The researchers will test how quorum sensing, temperature, and host-derived signals affect virulence factors in vitro and in vivo. The first three objectives will identify and examine the virulence factors controlled by three primary bacterial systems that respond to the environment: 1) the V. coralliilyticus quorum sensing signaling system, 2) the toxin regulator ToxR, and 3) the type VI secretion system. The fourth objective will examine how each of these systems influence coral colonization and disease progression in a live coral infection model and its microbiome. This collaborative research will significantly contribute to the coral pathogenesis field because it will identify V. coralliilyticus virulence genes, virulence regulators, and the fitness of strains that are defective in virulence pathways.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.

礁石建造珊瑚为25％的海洋鱼类和无脊椎动物提供栖息地和养分。珊瑚礁不仅是关键的生态系统，而且还为当地提供了许多生态，文化和经济利益。自1950年代以来，全世界已经失去了其总珊瑚礁覆盖的一半，这归因于人为气候变化和疾病爆发等威胁。海洋温度的升高与疾病的发生率增加和珊瑚爆发有关。海洋细菌弧菌Coralliilyticus是一种病原体，它感染了许多种类的珊瑚，并引起漂白，组织丧失和其他疾病。这项研究的重点是了解促进Coralliilyticus珊瑚殖民化的信号提示，并使该细菌能够超过宿主受保护的微生物组并启动珊瑚疾病。对Coralliilyticus的信号传导和调节病毒基因的机制的综合理解将有助于开发用于珊瑚疾病的应用治疗。此外，了解触发暴发的环境线索对于疾病管理和暴发预测至关重要。这里提出的工作还旨在向社区展示全球变暖如何影响珊瑚，自然微生物和微生物病原体。这三个研究机构将共同参加四个计划/委员会，以扩大对科学发现的传播，促进多元化群体的教学，培训和参与：印第安纳大学的生物学夏季研究所，印第安纳大学科学节，泰特维夫大学的阿尔法大学的科学节，以及北卡罗莱纳大学的科学，科学，访问，包容性和多样性委员会。从患病的珊瑚中孤立。然而，信息死亡详细介绍了驱动疾病倡议的环境信号以及珊瑚病原体对这些信号响应的分子机制。细菌信号传导是发病机理的核心组成部分，弧菌细菌是研究病毒群体灵敏度控制的中心模型。中心假设是群体敏感性信号传导和温度变化控制珊瑚的珊瑚虫发病机理所需的病毒基因。初步数据表明，病毒基因包括直接靶向宿主珊瑚细胞的毒素，通过杀死受保护的天然微生物组和/或共生性内共生菌的间接影响宿主珊瑚的毒素，并保护与抗体​​抗体抗体抗体化合物的抗体的抗性基因。研究人员将测试法定感测，温度和宿主信号如何在体外和体内影响病毒因素。前三个目标将识别并检查由三个对环境响应的主要细菌系统控制的病毒因子：1）Coralliilyticus Quorum传感信号系统，2）2）毒素调节剂Toxr，以及3）VI型分泌系统。第四个目标将研究这些系统中的每一个如何影响活珊瑚感染模型及其微生物组中的珊瑚定植和疾病进展。这项合作研究将对珊瑚发病机理领域产生重大贡献，因为它将识别Coralliilyticus病毒基因，病毒调节剂以及病毒途径中有缺陷的菌株的适应性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识优点和广泛影响来评估NSF的法定任务，并通过评估获得了珍贵的支持。