Bacteria-animal symbioses are fundamental to animal life and often dictate survival for both microbe and host. One such symbiosis is the induction of animal metamorphosis by bacteria, where the presence of specific bacteria stimulates the swimming larvae of animals like corals and tubeworms to settle on the sea floor and undergo metamorphosis. Although this microbe-animal interaction is critical for seeding new animals for entire ecosystems like coral reefs, very little is known about the bacterial factors that stimulate metamorphosis. Identification and characterization of these bacterial factors could lead to insights about microbe-animal symbioses that evolved long ago and are found in diverse animals alive today. By studying a model microbe-animal interaction, this project will provide the first technical roadmap for determining how bacteria stimulate the metamorphosis of many animals. This research has the potential to uncover novel means of restoring fragile marine ecosystems like coral reefs and promote the husbandry of economically important animals like oysters, with the use of bacterial factors. The degradation of natural ecosystems disproportionately impacts ethnic minorities and thus achieving diversity in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is critical. This project will establish a new lab-based summer workshop to engage first-year undergraduate students from underrepresented minoritized groups in discovery-based research. This experience will foster engagement in science and providing a pipeline throughout their undergraduate education to promote their retention in STEM careers.
Since bacteria were first discovered to stimulate animal metamorphosis over 80 years ago, animal larvae were thought to undergo metamorphosis in response to factors that bacteria release into their surroundings. Recently, the principal investigator discovered the first syringe-like structure produced by bacteria called MACs (Metamorphosis Associated Contractile structures) that injects a single stimulatory protein (Mif1) triggering metamorphosis of the marine tubeworm, Hydroides elegans..Although Mif1 is the first protein factor from bacteria identified that stimulates metamorphosis, there are likely many more factors that remain to be discovered. The main hypothesis that underlies the research is that MACs inject Mif1 into tubeworm larvae, which stimulates metamorphosis by cleaving membrane lipids and activating the lipid-sensing Protein Kinase C system. To test this hypothesis, the principal investigator will (1) genetically and biochemically determine how Mif1 stimulates animal metamorphosis using tubeworms and corals as model animals, (2) determine how Protein Kinase C initiates metamorphosis using metabolomics to identify key lipid signaling molecules and pathways, and (3) create a new lab-based summer workshop that engages first-year undergraduate students from traditionally underrepresented minoritized groups in the research, promoting early-stage recruitment and retention in STEM fields. This research has far reaching implications for understanding mechanisms mediating microbe-host interactions, as induction of metamorphosis by bacteria is ubiquitous among diverse animals and related syringe-like structures are common in diverse bacteria including human pathogens.
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.
