USAP-DC

The Antarctic benthic marine invertebrate communities are currently experiencing rapid environmental change due to the combined effects of global warming, ocean acidification, and the potential for ice-shelf collapse. Colonial invertebrate animals called bryozoans create specialized ‘reef-like’ habitats that are reminiscent of the coral reefs found in tropical marine environments. In the Antarctic, these bryozoan communities occupy significant portions of the shallow and deep seafloor, and provide habitat for other marine animals. The bryozoan lineages that make up these communities have undergone dramatic genetic and physiological changes in response to the unique environmental conditions found in Antarctica. Comparison of the DNA data from multiple Antarctic bryozoans to those of related warm-water species will help researchers identify unique and shared adaptations characteristic of bryozoans and other marine organisms that have adapted to the Antarctic environment. Additionally, direct experimental tests of catalytic-related genes (enzymes) will shed light on potential cold-adaption in various cell processes. Workshops will train diverse groups of scientists using computational tools to identify genetic modifications of organisms from disparate environments. Public outreach activities to students, social media, and science journalists are designed to raise awareness and appreciation of the spectacular marine life in the Antarctic and the hidden beauty of bryozoan biology. Understanding the genomic changes underlying adaptations to polar environments is critical for predicting how ecological changes will affect life in these fragile environments. Accomplishing these goals requires looking in detail at genome-scale data across a wide array of organisms in a phylogenetic framework. This study combines multifaceted computational and functional approaches that involves analyzing in the genic evolution of invertebrate organisms, known as the bryozoans or ectoprocts. In addition, the commonality of bryozoan results with those of other taxa will be tested by comparing newly generated data to that produced in previous workshops. The specific aims of this study include: 1) identifying genes involved in adaptation to Antarctic marine environments using transcriptomic and genomic data from bryozoans to test for positively selected genes in a phylogenetic framework, 2) experimentally testing identified candidate enzymes (especially those involved in calcium signaling, glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and the cytoskeleton) for evidence of cold adaption, and 3) conducting computational workshops aimed at training scientists in techniques for the identification of genetic adaptations to polar and other disparate environments. The proposed work provides critical insights into the molecular rules of life in rapidly changing Antarctic environments, and provides important information for understanding how Antarctic taxa will respond to future environmental conditions. 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.

Person	Role
Santagata, Scott	Investigator and contact
Ryan, Joseph	Investigator

Antarctic Integrated System Science	Award # 1935672
Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems	Award # 1935672
Antarctic Integrated System Science	Award # 1935635
Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems	Award # 1744877	Previous Award Workshop: Best Practices for using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Datasets to determine Robust Evidence of Positive Selection and Convergent Evolution of Polar Organisms. This workshop aims to bring together a range of investigators to advance and coordinate cross-disciplinary approaches for determining genetic adaptations in polar organisms using datasets derived from Next Generation Sequencing of organisms DNA (genomes) and RNA (trasncriptomes). In particular, this workshop will focus on marine invertebrates as a broad taxonomic grouping and focus on the following efforts. 1) Establishing collaborative research activities that can test for genes under positive selection from diverse polar organisms using genomic and transcriptomic datasets. 2) evaluating current analytical methods for determining positively selected genes among diverse marine organisms 3) exploring current and novel methodologies for detecting genetic modifications acquired through convergent evolution in response to similar environmental conditions and 4) reviewing lab-based protocols for demonstrating the potential functions of candidate genes identified as being positively selected for by Antarctic environments. The workshops will also focus discussions and recommendations to the broader scientific community regarding techniques amenable to freezing or otherwise preserving samples for future sequencing inquires. The workshop coordinators will be advertised broadly and recruit underrepresented groups to participate. Following workshop activities a final report will be published on the outcomes of the efforts.

USAP-1935635_1

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
NCBI SRA	Transcriptomic Sequences of Antarctic Bryozoans	FASTQ/FASTA	not_live
NCBI SRA	Targeted Exome Sequences of Antarctic Bryozoans	FASTQ/FASTA	not_live
NCBI SRA	Targeted Mitochondrial Genome Sequences of Antarctic Bryozoans	FASTQ/FASTA	not_live

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