How do animals cope with stress in different environments? (Ref 4595)

动物在不同环境下如何应对压力？

• 批准号: 2859397
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2859397
• 关键词: How; do; animals; cope; stress

Project BackgroundWe know that all organisms have a stress response system to cope with environmental challenges, yet its precise form varies hugely within and between individuals. At its heart, a stress response system should be able to throw everything at responding to a stressor (fighting, fleeing), but at the same time it should minimise disruption to the animal's other physiological systems. Recently, we have identified that stressor predictability is likely to be a major driver of variation in stress responses. This project further examine this hypothesis. You will be trained in computer programming and modelling techniques (such as control theory) to predict what key features and limitations of stress response systems evolve across different environments. We then put these models on stressor predictability to the test by using lab experiments and field work in the Mediterranean field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus.Project Aims and MethodsBelow we suggest three potential components of this PhD project to study the evolution of stress responses in animals. Of course, we encourage you to think about different components that are closer to your interests, as we believe that PhD students should lead the design of their projects. 1. Evolutionary models of stress response systems In this part of the project you will receive training in mathematical modelling in biology, where you will learn how to use control theory to develop an evolutionary model of a stress response. You can then use these skills to analyze what features characterize stress response systems that experience fluctuations in stressor occurrence. These models then allow one to predict how key features of stress response systems (e.g., robustness, damage accumulation) vary with different environments. Moreover, they also can inform us how changes in condition (e.g., medical interventions, chronic stress) affect the stress response.2. Experimentally measure how stressor predictability affects the stress response Crickets are a great model organism to the study of stress responses as the underlying stress response pathways are starting to be discovered and its genome has recently been sequenced. We will expose crickets to signals that indicate predation (e.g., scent of predators like the common toad). Stress responses are measured through hormones such as octopamine, which is a key component of the insect stress hormone pathway. Existing models made by us show that predictable vs random occurrences of stressors should affect the magnitude of the stress response. In this part of the project we aim to test this prediction by comparing different treatment groups that vary in the predictability of stressor occurrence vs absence during development.3. Field work on naturally occurring stressors in cricket populations in Portugal We aim to compare stress responses in field populations of Gryllus bimaculatus across Portugal, which differ in composition and density of predators. Moreover, we can also experimentally manipulate stressor occurrence by using protective cages that keep out key predators such as snakes, toads and mice.

项目背景我们知道所有生物体都有应激反应系统来应对环境挑战，但其精确形式在个体内部和个体之间存在巨大差异。从本质上讲，应激反应系统应该能够全力应对应激源（战斗、逃跑），但同时应尽量减少对动物其他生理系统的干扰。最近，我们发现压力源的可预测性可能是压力反应变化的主要驱动因素。该项目进一步检验了这一假设。您将接受计算机编程和建模技术（例如控制理论）方面的培训，以预测压力响应系统在不同环境中演变的关键特征和局限性。然后，我们通过实验室实验和地中海田蟋蟀 Gryllus bimaculatus 的现场工作，对这些模型的压力源可预测性进行测试。 项目目标和方法 下面我们提出了这个博士项目的三个潜在组成部分，以研究动物应激反应的演变。当然，我们鼓励您考虑更接近您兴趣的不同组件，因为我们认为博士生应该主导他们的项目设计。 1. 应激反应系统的进化模型 在项目的这一部分中，您将接受生物学数学建模的培训，其中您将学习如何使用控制理论来开发应激反应的进化模型。然后，您可以使用这些技能来分析经历压力源发生波动的压力反应系统的特征。然后，这些模型允许人们预测应力响应系统的关键特征（例如鲁棒性、损伤累积）如何随不同环境而变化。此外，它们还可以告诉我们状况的变化（例如医疗干预、慢性压力）如何影响压力反应。2。通过实验测量应激源的可预测性如何影响应激反应蟋蟀是研究应激反应的一个很好的模型生物，因为潜在的应激反应途径已经开始被发现，并且其基因组最近已被测序。我们将使蟋蟀暴露于表明捕食的信号（例如，像普通蟾蜍这样的捕食者的气味）。应激反应是通过章鱼胺等激素来测量的，章鱼胺是昆虫应激激素途径的关键组成部分。我们制作的现有模型表明，压力源的可预测与随机发生应该会影响压力反应的幅度。在该项目的这一部分中，我们的目标是通过比较不同治疗组来测试这一预测，这些治疗组在发育过程中压力源发生与不存在的可预测性方面有所不同。3。对葡萄牙蟋蟀种群中自然发生的应激源进行的实地研究我们的目的是比较葡萄牙各地蟋蟀野外种群的应激反应，这些种群的捕食者的组成和密度不同。此外，我们还可以通过使用防护笼来实验性地控制压力源的发生，以防止蛇、蟾蜍和老鼠等主要捕食者的进入。