Multi-scale modelling of calcification in scleractinian corals(MultiCalc)

The scleractinian coral Acropora millepora

)

The project is financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, NWO,
Computational Life Sciences and consists of a postdoc position at the Section Computational
Science of the Universiteit van Amsterdam
and a postdoc position at the Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
and several other researchers from other research institutes (see below: ``The research team'').

Abstract

The molecular relationships between related scleractinian coral species have been
investigated in a number of studies. By some authors it has been suggested that
similar morphologies have evolved independently more than once in the same coral
species and that the morphology is determined by a small number of genes. In
classical taxonomy different species are usually classified based on the
micro-morphology of the corallites (skeletal structures containing the individual
polyp of a coral colony).

The central research question we propose to investigate in this project is to
characterize the genes that control the differences in coral morphology for
related coral species. We do this by a quantitative comparison of gene expression
patterns. We especially focus on genes involved in the process of calcification. To
test the hypothesis that these genes can explain the differences in morphology, we
plan to use the estimated quantities in a simulated network controlling calcification.
We want to study the emergence of the micro-morphology structure and link gene
expression patterns to the corallite structure. This polyp (corallite) based model
will be coupled with a macroscopic growth form model describing Ca2+ and HCO3-
fluxes from the environment. A better understanding of calcification in corals is
of fundamental importance in research on the potentially detrimental impact of
increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, reducing ocean pH and
carbonate ion concentrations on the calcification process in corals and other
calcifying organisms.

The Research Team