RAPID: The black urchin (Diadema antillarum) massive resurgent die-off: Causes, demographic and community consequences

快速：黑海胆（Diadema antillarum）大规模死灰复燃：原因、人口和社区后果

• 批准号: 2243580
• 负责人: Carlos Toledo-Hernandez
• 金额: $ 19.99万
• 依托单位: SOCIEDAD AMBIENTE MARINO INC.
• 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: 2022-12-15 至 2024-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2243580&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; black; urchin; Diadema; antillarum

In recent decades, many marine species in Caribbean coral reef ecosystems have been impacted by disease. A well-documented mass mortality event affecting the long-spined black sea urchin Diadema antillarum in the early 1980s stands out because it had wide-ranging impacts on reef ecosystems. The urchins function as gatekeeper grazers, feeding mainly on macroalgae and preventing algae from overgrowing reefs. In the 1980s, an unknown disease killed over 90% of these urchins across the Caribbean, changing the reefscape from coral to algal dominated. Nearly 40 years later, black sea urchin populations have yet to recover. In early 2022, a new mortality event of D. antillarum was reported along the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico. This RAPID project is identifying the microbes involved in the current mortality event. The investigators are also assessing urchin populations under contrasting environmental conditions and disease incidences. Results are providing a better understanding of the causes and consequences of disease in Diadema, and insights learned may help prevent or mitigate future mortality events. The project is providing training for underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students in microbiology, bioinformatics, biochemistry, and ecology.With use of multi-omics technology, this RAPID project is advancing our understanding of the current die-off of Diadema in the Caribbean, including host-pathogen interactions and how these are influenced by environmental factors. The investigators are pursuing the following questions: (1) Are the microbial and biochemical profiles of diseased urchins similar to healthy ones? (2) Do environmental factors, i.e., temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen, influence disease incidence? (3) Are different size classes of urchins differentially being affected by the disease? This project is focusing on four study sites along the eastern and northern coast of Puerto Rico, where demographic and biochemical data have been previously collected. At three-month intervals, healthy and diseased D. antillarum urchins are being evaluated for changes in the microbiome using metagenomic and untargeted metabolomic strategies. In addition, urchins from eight transects per site are being counted and measured to determine how disease modulates life-history traits, i.e., population size-structure and density, and to assess disease incidence. The relationship between disease incidence and environmental measurements is being assessed. These multidisciplinary approaches and cutting-edge techniques, combined with the existing demographic and microbial data, make this a one-of-a-kind project to study the progression and effects of the disease at the metabolic, microbial, population, and ecosystem levels.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.

近几十年来，加勒比海珊瑚礁生态系统中的许多海洋物种受到疾病的影响。 1980年代初期，一场有据可查的质量死亡事件影响了长期纺状的黑海胆王冠antillarum，因为它对珊瑚礁生态系统产生了广泛的影响，因此脱颖而出。顽童充当守门人放牧者，主要以大型藻类为食，并防止藻类生长过度。在1980年代，一种未知的疾病杀死了整个加勒比地区的这些胆汁中90％以上，从珊瑚造成的珊瑚礁从珊瑚变为藻类。将近40年后，黑海胆种群尚未康复。在2022年初，据报道，包括波多黎各在内的加勒比海地区，据报道，抗核桃杆菌的新死亡率事件。这个快速项目正在识别当前死亡率事件中涉及的微生物。研究人员还评估了在对比的环境条件和疾病发生率的对比的情况下。结果可以更好地理解王牌中疾病的原因和后果，而所学的见解可能有助于预防或减轻未来的死亡事件。该项目正在为微生物学，生物信息学，生物化学和生态学领域的代表性不足的本科生和研究生提供培训。随着使用多派技术的使用，这个快速的项目正在促进我们对加勒比海中的古代杂志当前死亡的理解，包括宿主 - 托管互动以及这些环境因素的影响。调查人员正在提出以下问题：（1）患病的胆管的微生物和生化特征是否类似于健康？ （2）环境因素（即温度，盐度，pH和溶解的氧气）会影响疾病发生率吗？ （3）是否会差异化疾病的尺寸类别？该项目着重于波多黎各东部和北部海岸的四个研究地点，那里已经收集了人口统计和生化数据。在三个月的时间间隔内，正在使用元基因组和未靶向的代谢组策略评估健康和患病的Antillarum Purchins对微生物组的变化。此外，正在计数和测量每个位点的八个样带的胆管，以确定疾病如何调节生活历史特征，即种群大小结构和密度，并评估疾病发生率。正在评估疾病发生率与环境测量之间的关系。这些多学科的方法和尖端技术，再加上现有的人口统计学和微生物数据，使这是一个独一无二的项目，用于研究疾病在代谢，微生物，人群和生态系统级别的进步和影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估了构成的构成商标，并反映了对基础的支持。