Funding will support the molecular tools and fieldwork needed to follow P. mandapamensis from fish into the environment. qPCR reagents, species-specific primers and probes, DNA extraction supplies, and consumables will allow me to quantify the symbiont across existing and future field samples and test whether adult fish create local hotspots. Sequencing and molecular supplies will support strain-level tracking by comparing strains found inside individual fish with those they release into the environment. Funding will also support a return field season in Okinawa, Japan, where I can build on these findings with targeted sampling of adult fish and their surrounding environment. Together, these resources will let me move from asking where this symbiont occurs to testing how individual strains move from established hosts, through the environment, and toward the next generation.

Additional Information

Subdisciplines of science: Microbial ecology, symbiosis, host–microbe interactions, community ecology, marine ecology, microbiome assembly, and model system development