Collaborative Research: Winter Survival Mechanisms and Adaptive Genetic Variation in an Antarctic Insect

合作研究：南极昆虫的冬季生存机制和适应性遗传变异

• 批准号: 1341393
• 负责人: David Denlinger
• 金额: $ 43.76万
• 依托单位: Ohio State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-15 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1341393&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Winter; Survival; Mechanisms

Polar regions are deserts that are not only cold but also lack access to free water. Antarctic insects have unique survival mechanisms including the ability to tolerate freezing and extensive dehydration, surviving the loss of 70% of their body water. How this is done is of interest not only for understanding seasonal adaptations of insects and how they respond to climate change, but the molecular and physiological mechanisms employed may offer valuable insights into more general mechanisms that might be exploited for cryopreservation and long-term storage of human tissues and organs for transplantation and other medical applications. The investigators will study the proteins that are responsible for removing water from the body, cell level consequences of this, and how the responsible genes vary between populations. The project will also further the NSF goals of making scientific discoveries available to the general public and of training new generations of scientists. Each year a K-12 teacher will be a member of the field team and assist with fieldwork and outreach to school children and their teachers. Educational outreach efforts include presentations at local schools and national teacher meetings, providing lesson plans and podcasts on a website, and continuing to publish articles related to this research in education journals. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students will receive extensive training in all aspects of the research project with extended experiences that include publication of scientific papers and presentations at national meetings.This project focuses on deciphering the physiological and molecular mechanisms that enable the Antarctic midge Belgica antarctica to survive environmental stress and the loss of most of its body water in the desiccating polar environment. This extremophile is an ideal system for investigating mechanisms of stress tolerance and local geographic adaptations and its genome has recently been sequenced. This project has three focal areas: 1) Evaluating the role of aquaporins (water channel proteins) in the rapid removal of water from the body by studying expression of their genes during dehydration; 2) Investigating the mechanism of metabolic depression and the role of autophagy (controlled breakdown of cellular components) as a mediator of stress tolerance by studying expression of the genes responsible for autophagy during the dehydration process; and 3) Evaluating the population structure, gene flow, and adaptive variation in physiological traits associated with stress tolerance using a genetic approach that takes advantage of the genomic sequence available for this species coupled with physiological and environmental data from the sampled populations and their habitats.

极地地区是沙漠，不仅寒冷，而且缺乏免费的水。南极昆虫具有独特的生存机制，包括耐受冰冻和严重脱水的能力，在体内失去 70% 的水分后仍能生存。如何做到这一点不仅对于了解昆虫的季节性适应以及它们如何应对气候变化很有意义，而且所采用的分子和生理机制可能为更一般的机制提供有价值的见解，这些机制可用于低温保存和长期储存用于移植和其他医学应用的人体组织和器官。研究人员将研究负责从体内去除水分的蛋白质、其在细胞水平上的影响，以及负责基因在不同人群之间的差异。该项目还将进一步推进国家科学基金会的目标，即向公众提供科学发现和培训新一代科学家。每年，一名 K-12 教师将成为现场团队的成员，协助现场工作以及向学童及其老师进行外展活动。教育推广工作包括在当地学校和全国教师会议上进行演讲，在网站上提供课程计划和播客，以及继续在教育期刊上发表与这项研究相关的文章。此外，本科生和研究生将接受该研究项目各个方面的广泛培训，并获得丰富的经验，包括发表科学论文和在国家会议上进行演讲。该项目的重点是破译南极蠓的生理和分子机制。在干燥的极地环境中生存环境压力和大部分体内水分的流失。这种极端微生物是研究应激耐受和局部地理适应机制的理想系统，其基因组最近已被测序。 该项目有三个重点领域：1）通过研究脱水过程中水通道蛋白（水通道蛋白）基因的表达，评估水通道蛋白（水通道蛋白）在快速排除体内水分方面的作用； 2) 通过研究脱水过程中负责自噬的基因的表达，研究代谢抑制的机制以及自噬（细胞成分的受控分解）作为应激耐受介质的作用； 3) 使用遗传方法评估与胁迫耐受性相关的种群结构、基因流和生理特征的适应性变异，该方法利用该物种可用的基因组序列以及来自采样种群及其栖息地的生理和环境数据。