Collaborative Research: EAGER: Non-Lethal Tools to Estimate the Ages and Lifespans of Chondrichthyan Fishes

合作研究：EAGER：估计软骨鱼年龄和寿命的非致命工具

• 批准号: 2232269
• 负责人: Gavin Naylor
• 金额: $ 11.72万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2232269&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; EAGER; Non; Lethal

This project develop new methods for aging chondrichthyans (e.g., sharks, skates, and rays) using DNA sequencing technology. In doing so, it will advance both the conservation of these species, many of which are critically endangered, and our evolutionary understanding of the aging process across species in taxonomic groups with highly variable lifespans and life histories. Biological aging is a fundamental component of organismal life. Recent advances in our understanding of changes in DNA during aging are yielding novel tools to probe the linkages between genomic variability, ecological dynamics, and organismal lifespans. These changes over the lifespan of all vertebrates, when calibrated against animals of known age, can be used to create highly accurate “clocks.” Such clocks have the potential to provide non-lethal approaches for determining aging populations of species of conservation concern, and comparative studies of aging across related species with diverse lifespans are likely to provide insight into the mechanisms contributing to life history evolution. In addition, the project will provide training for both undergraduates and a postdoctoral scholar and engage the general and local public through association with the Georgia Aquarium.Living systems cycle through life-history stages characterized by initiation, growth and development, reproduction, senescence, and death. Most hypotheses of the evolutionary drivers of life-history patterns center around the idea that periodic resetting in conjunction with the slow, but constant, introduction of new mutations augmented by reshuffling (e.g., sexual reproduction), provides the phenotypic variability necessary to ensure survival in changing environments. If this is correct, cycling times should be shorter in rapidly changing environments than they are in more constant environments. This project will develop an epigenetic DNA methylation “clock” using novel molecular and computational approaches to measure life spans in chondrichthyan fishes that vary widely in their lifespans and life histories and that inhabit environments that range from the relative constancy of the deep sea to highly dynamic environments at the sea surface in temperate and tropical regions.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.

该项目使用DNA测序技术开发了衰老的Chondrichthyans（例如鲨鱼，溜冰鞋和射线）的新方法。通过这样做，它将既可以促进这些物种的保护，其中许多物种受到极大濒危的危害，以及我们对具有高度可变的寿命和寿命历史的分类学群体中物种的衰老过程的进化理解。生物衰老是有机生活的基本组成部分。我们对衰老过程中DNA变化的理解的最新进展正在产生新的工具，以探测基因组变异性，生态动力学和有机寿命之间的联系。在所有脊椎动物的寿命中，这些变化在针对已知年龄的动物进行校准时，可用于创建高度准确的“时钟”。这样的时钟有可能提供非致命的方法来确定保护物种的衰老人群，并且对具有不同寿命的相关物种衰老的比较研究可能会洞悉促进生活历史演变的机制。此外，该项目将为本科生和博士后科学提供培训，并通过与佐治亚水族馆的关联来吸引一般和地方公众。生活系统循环穿过以启动，增长和发展，繁殖，感应和死亡为特征的生活史阶段。生命历史模式的进化驱动因素的大多数假设都围绕这样的观念，即定期重置与缓慢但持续的引入新突变（例如，性生殖）增强（例如，性生殖），提供了确保在变化环境中存活所必需的表型变异性。如果这是正确的，那么在迅速变化的环境中，骑自行车的时间应比在更恒定的环境中短。该项目将使用新颖的分子和计算方法开发出表观遗传DNA甲基化的“时钟”，以测量生命跨在软骨ch的鱼类中，它们在其生命养殖场和生命历史上以及感染环境以及从深海的相对成分范围内的感染环境差异很大使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响评估标准进行评估。