BRC-BIO: Establishing Astrangia poculata as a study system to understand how multi-partner symbiotic interactions affect pathogen response in cnidarians

BRC-BIO：建立 Astrangia poculata 作为研究系统，以了解多伙伴共生相互作用如何影响刺胞动物的病原体反应

• 批准号: 2312555
• 负责人: Lauren Fuess
• 金额: $ 49.03万
• 依托单位: Texas State University - San Marcos
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-01-01 至 2026-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2312555&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: BRC; BIO; Establishing; Astrangia; poculata

Many animals form complex associations with an assortment of microbial organisms have significant effects on host health. This project aims to understand how variability in host-microbe associations affects animal health, focusing specifically on corals. The project uses Astrangia, a non-threatened relative of endangered reef-building corals, as a model for understanding how coral-microbe interactions impact disease response. Tropical corals, and their associated coral reef ecosystems, are experiencing dramatic declines due to increasing disease prevalence. The results of the proposed research will advance understanding of how associations between corals and microbial organisms affect disease resistance. The knowledge gathered can be applied to help direct coral restoration efforts. Additionally, this project will provide training opportunities for the development of students at a Hispanic serving institution. A new summer research experience for students at Texas State University will be created, and linked with existing summer programs at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. Each summer a cohort of 4-5 undergraduate students will engage in project related research and reciprocal exchanges across the two institutions. The program will create a community of undergraduate researchers and provide support for their career development. The project will also support two graduate students per year and the career development of an early career researcher. This project is being cofunded by the BRC-BIO program and Biological Oceanography (GEO).Symbiotic associations are ubiquitous throughout nature and have significant implications for host fitness. Still, understanding of the extent of natural variation in these associations and the implications of this variation on host disease resistance is limited. This project leverages a facultatively symbiotic coral system (Astrangia poculata) to explore natural variation in multi-partner symbioses (host, photosymbiont, microbiome) and the effects of this variation on host response to pathogens. Specifically, the proposed project will 1) investigate natural variation in coral multi-partner associations across populations, focusing on variability in symbiont characteristics (microbiome composition; algal symbiont density, genetics, and gene expression) and effects of this variation on constitutive immunity; and 2) investigate whether this variation is linked to differences in response to pathogens and disease susceptibility. When examining natural variation, we will use integrative ‘omics techniques to elucidate how variability in each symbiotic partner affects the others. Then, we will use experimental pathogen challenges to determine whether observed variation in these associations influences pathogen response. We predict that significant variation will exist in symbiotic associations across sampled populations, and that this variation will have effects on pathogen response and ultimately disease susceptibility. The proposed project will serve as a significant contribution to the field of ecological immunology by advancing understanding of how multi-partner symbioses drive health and resilience in animal hosts.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.

许多动物与各种微生物形成复杂的关联，对宿主健康产生重大影响。该项目旨在了解宿主微生物关联的变异如何影响动物健康，该项目特别关注珊瑚，它是珊瑚的非受威胁亲戚。濒临灭绝的造礁珊瑚作为了解珊瑚与微生物相互作用如何影响疾病反应的模型，由于疾病流行率的增加而正在经历急剧下降。了解珊瑚和微生物之间的关联如何影响抗病性。此外，该项目将为西班牙服务机构的学生提供新的夏季研究经验。将为德克萨斯州立大学的学生创建一个项目，并将其与罗德岛州罗杰威廉姆斯大学现有的暑期项目联系起来。每年夏天，会有 4-5 名本科生参与两所机构之间的项目相关研究和互惠交流。将创建一个本科生研究人员社区并提供支持该项目每年还将支持两名研究生和一名早期职业研究员的职业发展。该项目由 BRC-BIO 计划和生物海洋学 (GEO) 共同资助。尽管如此，对这些关联的自然变异程度以及这种变异对宿主抗病性的影响的了解仍然有限。该项目利用了兼性共生珊瑚系统（Astrangia poculata）。探索多伙伴共生体（宿主、光共生体、微生物组）的自然变异以及这种变异对宿主对病原体反应的影响，具体来说，拟议的项目将 1) 研究不同种群珊瑚多伙伴关系的自然变异。共生体特征的变异性（微生物组组成；藻类共生体密度、遗传学和基因表达）以及这种变异对组成性免疫的影响；2）研究这种变异是否与对病原体的反应差异有关；在检查自然变异时，我们将使用综合组学技术来阐明每个共生伙伴的变异如何影响其他伙伴，然后，我们将使用实验病原体挑战来确定观察到的这些关联的变异是否会影响病原体的反应。抽样群体之间的共生关联将存在显着差异，并且这种差异将对病原体反应并最终影响疾病易感性。拟议的项目将通过增进对多伙伴关系的理解，为生态免疫学领域做出重大贡献。共生促进动物宿主的健康和恢复力。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。