Impact of environmental change on the physiological and adaptive responses of aquatic organisms

环境变化对水生生物生理和适应性反应的影响

基本信息

批准号：
227859-2012
负责人：
Glémet, Hélène
金额：
$ 1.53万
依托单位：
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
依托单位国家：
加拿大
项目类别：
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
财政年份：
2014
资助国家：
加拿大
起止时间：
2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=546848
关键词：
Impact environmental change physiological adaptive

项目摘要

As a consequence of human activity and global warming, the range and variability of environmental pressures that animals must cope with is constantly increasing. Understanding animal response to such varying environments is a first step towards uncovering the underlying forces driving complex biological processes, such as adaptation and microevolution of organisms. A broadly generalized approach, developed by J. Elser and colleagues attempts to link cellular allocation to organism function and to ecological dynamics. Briefly, rapidly growing organisms are thought to have low biomass C:P and N:P ratios that reflect an increased allocation to P-rich ribosomal RNA (rRNA) needed for rapid protein synthesis to support fast growth. Genetic mechanisms underlying high growth rate phenotypes implicate the structure and organisation of ribosomal RNA genes, notably heterogeneity in intergenic spacer (IGS) length. This implies that evolutionary processes can generate variation in a major life history trait (specific growth rate) and have consequences for ecological dynamics due to their effects on organismal elemental composition. The general objectives of my research program are: 1) to understand how changing environmental conditions impact physiological responses, mainly the growth rates of aquatic organisms; 2) to understand the adaptive responses of aquatic organisms by identifying and investigating functionally relevant genetic variation implicated in growth.

由于人类活动和全球变暖，动物必须应对的环境压力的范围和变化不断增加。了解动物对这种不同环境的反应是揭示驱动复杂生物过程（例如生物体的适应和微进化）的潜在力量的第一步。 J. Elser 及其同事开发了一种广泛通用的方法，试图将细胞分配与生物体功能和生态动力学联系起来。简而言之，快速生长的生物体被认为具有较低的生物量 C:P 和 N:P 比率，这反映了快速蛋白质合成以支持快速生长所需的富含 P 的核糖体 RNA (rRNA) 的分配增加。高生长率表型背后的遗传机制涉及核糖体 RNA 基因的结构和组织，特别是基因间间隔区 (IGS) 长度的异质性。这意味着进化过程可以产生主要生活史特征（特定生长率）的变化，并由于其对有机体元素组成的影响而对生态动态产生影响。我的研究计划的总体目标是：1）了解不断变化的环境条件如何影响生理反应，主要是水生生物的生长速度； 2）通过识别和研究与生长有关的功能相关遗传变异来了解水生生物的适应性反应。