Enzyme Activities as Shipboard Biochemical Indices of Condition in Zooplankton

生物海洋学的一个主要研究领域 社区是评估影响人口因素的能力 海洋生物的丰度和气候的潜在作用 海洋物种的变化。对于浮游动物来说， 假设营养状况会深刻影响 浮游动物的丰度和生存。然而，目前的技术， 评估浮游动物的营养和生理状况， 评估这一假设是相当不敏感和/或难以 apply.此外，分析生物学研究的现场数据 通常滞后于物理测量的可用性。这 该项目将开发船上酶活性（速率）测定 几种海洋浮游动物的新陈代谢和生长 包括两个物种（鳕鱼的幼虫，Gadus morhua和 桡足类，Calanus finmarchicus），它们是 乔治银行生态系统，这是一个感兴趣的地区， 浮游动物和渔业群落。 这些检测方法一旦被开发出来 将被用来测试垂直分层假设， 浮游动物的生存在乔治银行地区。 目标 将通过以下步骤实现：（1）酶的实验室优化 测定条件;（2）生理参数的相关性 (e.g.,呼吸速率）与酶活性进行验证 分子指标;（3）生理状态的估计 现场捕获的标本通过使用这些酶活性代理。

A major area of interest within the biological oceanographic community is the ability to assess the factors affecting population abundances of marine organisms and the potential role of climate change on marine species. For zooplankton species, it is hypothesized that nutritional regime can profoundly affect zooplankton abundance and survival. However, current techniques to assess nutritional and physiological condition in zooplankton to evaluate this hypothesis are rather insensitive and/or difficult to apply. Additionally, analysis of field data from biological studies usually lags behind the availability of physical measurements. This project will develop shipboard activity (rate) assays for enzymes of metabolism and growth in several species of marine zooplankton including two species (larvae of the cod, Gadus morhua and the copepod, Calanus finmarchicus) which are important components of an of the Georges Bank ecosystem, which is a region of interest in the zooplankton and fisheries community. The assays once developed will be used to test the vertical-stratification hypothesis for zooplankton survival in the Georges Bank region. The objectives will be accomplished by: (1) laboratory optimization of the enzyme assay conditions; (2) correlation of physiological parameters (e.g., respiration rates) with enzyme activities to validate molecular proxies; (3) estimation of physiological condition in field-caught specimens by use of these enzyme activity proxies.