The role of the microbiome in coral bleaching - Friends or Foes?

微生物组在珊瑚白化中的作用 - 朋友还是敌人？

基本信息

批准号：
2569592
负责人：
金额：
--
依托单位：
University of Southampton
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Studentship
财政年份：
2021
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2021 至无数据
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2569592
关键词：
role microbiome coral bleaching Friends

项目摘要

Shallow-water coral reef ecosystems are on decline globally, with heat stress anddeteriorating water quality identified as major causes of coral bleaching and subsequentmass mortality (1,2). The main habitat-founding species, scleractinian corals, are describedas a holobiont formed by the coral host animal, its endosymbiotic dinoflagellates and the'coral microbiome' - constituted by highly diverse and abundant communities of microbesliving on and within the coral. While intense research efforts have focused on how the animalhosts and dinoflagellate symbionts respond to environmental stress, recent evidencesuggests that the coral microbiome changes along environmental gradients and that thisprocess may influence coral resilience to stress (3). Although marine microbes are knownto be key drivers of global biogeochemical cycles; their exact functional roles in the coralholobiont remain unknown. It is unclear how specific environmental parameters shape thestructure of coral microbiome, and which specific mechanisms and microbes drive thehealthy functioning of the holobiont. This project aims to study how environmental multistressors,especially heat and nutrient stress, influence the composition of the microbiomeand their interactions with their hosts in different coral species; thus affecting the resilienceof corals and their capacity to recover from bleaching events.

全球浅水珊瑚礁生态系统正在衰退，热应激和水质恶化被认为是珊瑚白化和随后大规模死亡的主要原因 (1,2)。主要栖息地物种——石珊瑚，被描述为由珊瑚宿主动物、其内共生甲藻和“珊瑚微生物组”形成的全生物体——由生活在珊瑚上和珊瑚内的高度多样化和丰富的微生物群落构成。虽然大量的研究工作集中在动物宿主和甲藻共生体如何应对环境压力上，但最近的证据表明，珊瑚微生物组随着环境梯度而变化，并且这个过程可能会影响珊瑚对压力的恢复能力 (3)。尽管众所周知，海洋微生物是全球生物地球化学循环的关键驱动因素；它们在珊瑚生物中的确切功能作用仍然未知。目前尚不清楚特定的环境参数如何塑造珊瑚微生物组的结构，以及哪些特定的机制和微生物驱动全生物的健康运作。该项目旨在研究环境多重压力，特别是热和营养压力，如何影响不同珊瑚物种中微生物群的组成及其与宿主的相互作用；从而影响珊瑚的恢复力及其从白化事件中恢复的能力。