REU: Quantitative Aspects of Seaweed Chemical Defense: Complex Interactions of Environment, Seaweed Chemistry and Resistance to Herbivory

海藻是丰富的代谢物来源，具有抵御食草动物的功能，在制药、农用化学品和生长调节物质方面具有潜在的应用前景。了解环境因素如何导致这些产品的可变性可能具有重要意义，并可能有助于确定人类对近岸环境的影响将如何影响藻类与其捕食者之间的相互作用。Hay博士和Fenical博士将评估物理和生物压力如何与藻类对捕食的抵抗力相互作用，并研究这一过程的变异性。

Marine algae are rich sources of metabolites that function as defenses against herbivores and have potential applications as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and growth regulating substances. An understanding of how environmental factors contribute to the variability of these products may have important implications and may help determine how man's impact on the nearshore environment will affect the interaction between algae and their predators. Drs. Hay and Fenical will assess how physical and biological stresses interact with the algae's resistance to predation and examine the variability of the process.