Molecular biomineralization of octocoral skeletons: calcite versus aragonite (MINORCA)

八珊瑚骨骼的分子生物矿化：方解石与霰石（MINORCA）

基本信息

批准号：
331045868
负责人：
Privatdozent Dr. Sergio Vargas Ramírez
金额：
--
依托单位：
Sektion Paläontologie und Geobiologie
依托单位国家：
德国
项目类别：
Research Grants
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
德国
起止时间：
2016-12-31 至 2020-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/331045868?language=en
关键词：
Molecular biomineralization octocoral skeletons calcite

项目摘要

Biomineralization refers to the process by which organisms produce minerals. This process that has shaped the spectacular diversity of shells and skeletons throughout large periods of the Earth's history, and forms the three dimensional framework of coral reefs, one of the most diverse ecosystem on the planet. Anthozoan corals, main reef builders today, produce different polymorphs of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Scleractinians deposit aragonite and octocorals calcite, with a notable exception, the aragonitic Heliopora. It is however unknown why and how corals produce different CaCO3 polymorphs. Changes in the molar ratio of seawater Mg:Ca during certain periods of Earth history have been proposed as drivers of preferential selection of specific CaCO3 polymorphs at clade origin. While the process of biomineralization is comparatively well studied at the molecular level in Scleractinia, knowledge is still deficient in Octocorallia but necessary for a complete understanding of the ability of corals to control and counter the effects of environmental changes.Here we will combine transcriptomic and proteomic approaches to identify and characterize the gene repertoire involved in the octocoral biomineralization toolkit. We will use three species with a rigid skeleton, which we culture in our research aquaria and for which we recently generated reference transcriptomes, as models: the aragonitic octocoral Heliopora coerulea and the calcitic Tubipora musica, and, to allow comparative analyses, the aragonitic scleractinian Montipora digitata. Three different strategies will be employed to achieve the project's objectives:First, the existing target species transcriptomes will be data mined and compared with published data on corals and other taxa (e.g., calcareous sponges, molluscs, brachiopods, echinoderms) to identify biomineralization-related proteins.Second, for each of our target species, the skeletal proteomes (i.e. organic matrix proteins occluded in the skeleton) will be characterized to further characterize proteins putatively involved in biomineralization.Third, we will expose our three target species to artificial Calcite Sea-like seawater (with a mMg:Ca = 1), because apparently aragonitic corals start to produce calcite under those conditions, but the molecular processes responsible for such CaCO3 polymorph shift are unknown yet. We will monitor the differential expression of biomineralization-related genes in short- and longer-term experiments aiming to fill that knowledge gap.By focusing on corals that produce different CaCO3 polymorphs and employing different experimental approaches, we will provide novel data on coral biomineralization in general, and octocoral biomineralization in particular, which might help to further our understanding of the biological processes that control biomineralization in changing oceans.

生物矿化是指生物产生矿物质的过程。这个过程塑造了地球历史的巨大时期壳和骨骼的壮观多样性，并形成了珊瑚礁的三维框架，珊瑚礁是地球上最多样化的生态系统之一。如今，主要礁石建造者的Anthozoan Corals产生了碳酸钙（CACO3）的不同多晶型物。巩膜菌在后期和八角岩方解石中沉积了八角形的方解石。但是，尚不清楚为什么以及珊瑚如何产生不同的CACO3多晶型物。在地球历史的一定时期，海水Mg：Ca的摩尔比的变化是作为优先选择进化枝来选择特定CACO3多晶型物的驱动因素。虽然在硬化性的分子水平上，生物矿化的过程进行了很好的研究，但知识仍然缺乏八光层，但对于完全理解珊瑚控制和抵抗环境变化的影响的能力所必需。我们将结合转录组和蛋白质组学方法鉴定和表征conee retertOrire涉及八粒子化的工具。我们将使用三种具有刚性骨骼的物种，我们将其在研究水族箱中进行培养，并为此我们最近生成参考转录组，作为模型：术的八角形Heliopora corulea和Calnitic tubipora Musica，以及允许比较分析的Aragonitic scleractinian monttipora gigitata。将采用三种不同的策略来实现该项目的目标：首先，现有的目标物种转录组将进行数据挖掘，并将其与已发表的有关珊瑚和其他分类群的数据进行比较 proteins occluded in the skeleton) will be characterized to further characterize proteins putatively involved in biomineralization.Third, we will expose our three target species to artificial Calcite Sea-like seawater (with a mMg:Ca = 1), because apparently aragonitic corals start to produce calcite under those conditions, but the molecular processes responsible for such CaCO3 polymorph shift are unknown yet.我们将在短期和长期实验中监测与生物矿化相关基因的差异表达，旨在填补该知识空白。通过关注产生不同的CACO3多晶型物并采用不同实验方法的珊瑚，我们将提供有关珊瑚生物矿化的新颖数据，这些数据在一般，八角孢式的过程中，尤其是对生物源化的范围，以帮助我们对我们的生物构成的理解，以帮助我们了解该研究的研究，以帮助我们进行该研究。