Physiology of Osmoregulation in Saline-Water Insects

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One of the most fundamental processes inherent in animal cells is the capacity to transport ions and water. These processes are very important in the functioning of the human body, for example, in the production of saliva, sweat, urine, stomach secretions etc. Dr. Bradley is studying insects that live in a very saline lake, Mono Lake, in east central California. This lake is 2.5 times as salty as the ocean and contains very high levels of sulfate. Despite these unusual conditions, brine flies live by the billions in Mono Lake. He is investigating the mechanisms of salt transport in the midgut (the site of salt entry) and hindgut (the site of salt exit) in these flies. The flies may well contain the most active sulfate pumps known in biology. He anticipates that the information he will gather will be of broad use in understanding the mechanisms of salt transport in other biological systems and in man, for example in the kidney. It is a well established practice to examine physiological processes in non-human model systems where the process is highly exaggerated. Electrical generation has been very successfully studied in electric eels, nervous function in the giant axons of squid and processes of genetic selection in the fruit fly which has very short generation times. He intends to use the same principle in examining sulfate transport in the most active sulfate system known.