HEИндивидуална стипендия2022–2024

CoralCellSeq · Genomic and single-cell approaches to establish the molecular basis of stony coral resilience to climate change-related stressors.

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2022-07-15 → 2024-07-14
Финансиране от ЕС: 181 153 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Генетичните и клетъчни механизми на три вида корали показват как те реагират на затоплянето и закисляването на океана. Разбирането на тези процеси помага за разработването на стратегии за опазване на кораловите рифове и морското биоразнообразие.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

Genomic and single-cell approaches to establish the molecular basis of stony coral resilience to climate change-related stressors.

The CoralCellSeq project emerges from a pressing global challenge: the alarming degradation of coral reefs due to climate change-induced stressors, such as rising ocean temperatures and acidification. Coral reefs are the foundation of marine biodiversity, offering essential ecosystem services like coastal protection, supporting marine life, and providing economic benefits for millions of people worldwide. However, the rapid increase in ocean temperatures has led to widespread coral bleaching and mortality, threatening the survival of these critical ecosystems. Understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind coral resilience, as well as the symbiosis between corals and algae from the Symbiodiniaceae family, is key to developing effective conservation strategies. The project focuses on three species of stony corals—Stylophora pistillata, Acropora millepora, and Oculina patagonica—representing both tropical and temperate reef ecosystems. These species exhibit varying levels of resilience to thermal stress, making them ideal models for studying the genetic and cellular factors influencing coral survival. The project leverages advanced genomic and single-cell technologies to create detailed coral cell atlases, providing insights into how coral cells respond to thermal stress and symbiosis dynamics. The data generated from CoralCellSeq will not only contribute to understanding coral resilience but also position Oculina patagonica, a Mediterranean, temperate, and facultative coral, as a new model organism. Currently, only two single-cell atlases exist for corals—one of which, for Stylophora pistillata, was created by us in a previous study. This comprehensive and in-depth single-cell data will represent the most advanced resource available, offering unparalleled insights into coral biology. By generating single-cell atlases for each species, CoralCellSeq aims to identify key genes and molecular pathways that play a role in coral resilience. These findings will lay the groundwork for developing future strategies to strengthen coral resilience to environmental changes. The project's contributions are expected to have a major scientific impact, offering a deeper understanding of coral biology, symbiosis, and resilience. This knowledge will inform future conservation strategies and help mitigate the effects of climate change on coral reefs. The work aligns with global initiatives like the EU Green Deal, supporting biodiversity protection and climate resilience through groundbreaking research on coral ecosystems.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Scleractinian corals are the main builders of the marine reefs that provide a home to roughly a quarter of all marine species. In addition, their photosynthetic symbionts contribute to Earths oxygen, absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, and provide the coral host with most of its metabolic needs. Global changes drastically affecting ocean acidification and temperatures cause the breakdown of this symbiosis. This process is also known as coral bleaching, and it results in a mass decline in coral reefs. Despite the continuous efforts to study this phenomenon, our understanding of the bleaching process is so far limited. It is important to emphasize that different coral species, display distinct responses to stressors, with varying mortality rates following bleaching. Hence, in this action, I will utilize these differences in coral resilience (i) to characterize the cellular and molecular responses to stressors of three corals with different levels of bleaching resilience (Stylophora pistillata, Acropora millepora, and Oculina patagonica); (ii) to identify specific genes that might be key players in coral resilience, and (iii) to design and test pharmacological interventions to modulate coral resilience to thermal and acidification stress. To do so, I will expose corals to thermal and acidification stressors and use single-cell genomics approaches to measure and compare cell type-specific gene expression responses to stressors within and between species. These analyses will highlight candidate molecular pathways and cellular processes responsible for the high resilience of some of these species. Together, this project will provide a high-resolution molecular map of stony coral responses to climate change-related stressors, and it will help me, and others advance towards targeted interventions to ameliorate these effects.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

FUNDACIO CENTRE DE REGULACIO GENOMICA · BarcelonaКоординаторИспания