Antarctic Ecosystems - An Extreme Environment in a Changing World
Antarctic Ecosystems - An Extreme Environment in a Changing World
复制标题
南极生态系统 - 不断变化的世界中的极端环境
DOI：
10.1002/9781444347241.ch
复制
发表时间：
2012
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Clarke A
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Clarke A
南极洲为在当地和区域范围内塑造生物多样性的进化过程进行基础研究提供了无与伦比的自然实验室。生理学家和生态学家长期以来一直被那些处于能够支持生命的物理条件极限的环境所吸引。这是因为极地地区、深海、温泉或热液喷口需要在分子、细胞或整个生物体水平上进行显着的适应，以使生活在那里的生物体能够生存、生长和繁殖。这些系统的早期工作往往集中在特定的适应上，例如高温微生物的膜功能或极地鱼类的抗冻蛋白。这些具体的适应是一般环境适应的各个方面（Clarke，1983，1991；Hochachka＆Somero，2002），因此比较方法有助于我们在分子水平上对进化适应的整体理解。此外，最近分子技术的革命，特别是过去十年中转录组学和蛋白质组学的革命，使我们能够以全新的方式将基因组与环境联系起来（Feder & Mitchell-Olds，2003；Chen 等，2008）。例如，现在可以将蛋白质结构和基因表达的数据与生态系统水平的过程结合起来，从而与整个群落的进化结合起来（Whitham 等，2006）。这带来了一种隐含的认识，即这些链接在一定范围的时间和空间尺度上运作。
Antarctica offers an unrivalled natural laboratory for fundamental research on the evolutionary processes that shape biological diversity on both local and regional scales. Physiologists and ecologists have long been attracted to environments that lie at the limits of the physical conditions capable of supporting life. This is because the polar regions, the deep-sea, hot springs or hydrothermal vents demand striking adaptations at the molecular, cellular or whole-organism level to allow organisms living there to survive, grow and reproduce. Early work on these systems tended to concentrate on specific adaptations, such as membrane function in high-temperature microbes, or antifreeze proteins in polar fish. These specific adaptations are aspects of environmental adaptation in general (Clarke, 1983, 1991; Hochachka & Somero, 2002), and hence the comparative approach has contributed to our overall understanding of evolutionary adaptation at the molecular level. In addition the recent revolution in molecular techniques, particularly those in transcriptomics and proteomics over the past decade, has allowed us to link the genome to the environment in entirely new ways (Feder & Mitchell-Olds, 2003; Chen et al., 2008). For example it is now possible to couple data on protein structure and gene expression to ecosystemlevel processes, and thereby to the evolution of entire communities (Whitham et al., 2006). This brings with it the implicit recognition that these links operate over a range of scales of both time and space.