Project: The probiotic potential of symbiotic partnerships: Can contact between aquatic animals enhance the anti-pathogen potential of protective microbiomes?

NSF Award Abstract:
Social interaction is a major driver of animal health, fitness, and evolution, affecting processes such as resource acquisition, mate choice, and the spread of animal-associated microorganisms. This project examines the effect of marine animal social interactions on beneficial microbiomes and how this influences defense against pathogens. The project includes support for educational and outreach activities in Montana, a landlocked state with limited resources for ocean science research and education. It includes research training for at least five undergraduate students and provides hands-on research experience and curriculum development opportunities for high school teachers from rural Montana.

The microbiomes of marine animals provide critical 'ecosystem' services to their hosts, such as protection from pathogens via antimicrobial production or competition. Microbiomes have been studied almost exclusively as isolated entities, but many marine animals engage in repeated physical contact through social interactions, which may shape microbiomes in unknown ways. Using the clownfish-anemone model and a combination of live animal experiments, culture-based microbial inhibition assays, and genomic approaches, this project tests the hypothesis that social interaction between marine animals provides a microbial benefit to the interacting partners, optimizing each animal's beneficial microbiome to protect against pathogens. The research advances knowledge of how social interactions shape microbiomes, improves understanding of symbiotic relationships, and lays the foundation for exploring the microbial benefits of animal-animal interaction in other marine systems.

This project is jointly funded by Biological Oceanography and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).

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.