Quantitative assessment of the population and functional diversity in phytoplankton and coral 'holobiont' metagenomes
Coral reef health is declining while harmful algal blooms appear to be increasing in frequency and distribution. Both are likely reflective of global climate change. However, the dynamics of the microbial communities associated with these aquatic habitats is not well known. The project goals are to analyze metatranscriptomes of phytoplankton and coral associated microbes in order to: 1) characterize the genetic diversity of discrete populations and 2) evaluate functional diversity by focusing on nutrient acquisition and secondary metabolite genes.
The training goals are to further develop bioinformatics tools needed to identify significantly different and similar gene expression occurring among coral reefs and freshwater phytoplankton blooms. This project has the potential to impact two different fields of biology. Typically, secondary metabolite type genes (which make many of the antibiotics in use today) are overlooked in studies of evolution and ecology because researchers are not interested in drug discovery while natural product researchers do not have the expertise to properly study the evolution and ecology of these gene types. This project will help bridge the gap and place studies of natural products in the context of evolution and ecology rather than simply for the discovery of novel drugs for pharmaceutical companies. However, incorporating studies of natural products into ecologically driven research will provide important data to researchers looking to discover new pharmaceuticals. The project will also train young scientists through MIT's undergraduate research program and establish the first Coral Club in Cambridge where scientists can present research in an informal setting and volunteer at museums in the Boston area.
