Enzyme Activities as Shipboard Biochemical Indices of Condition in Zooplankton

海洋生物界感兴趣的一个主要领域是评估影响海洋生物种群丰度的因素和气候变化对海洋物种的潜在作用的能力。对于浮游动物物种，我们假设营养状况可以深刻地影响浮游动物的丰度和生存。然而，目前评估浮游动物营养和生理状况以评估这一假设的技术相当不敏感和/或难以应用。此外，对来自生物学研究的实地数据的分析通常落后于物理测量的可用性。该项目将开发几种海洋浮游动物代谢和生长酶的船载活性（速率）测定，其中包括两种（鳕鱼的幼虫，Gadus morhua和桡足类，Calanus finmarchicus），它们是乔治海岸生态系统的重要组成部分，是浮游动物和渔业社区感兴趣的区域。这些试验一旦开发出来，将用于检验乔治滩地区浮游动物生存的垂直分层假说。目标将通过以下方式实现：(1)酶分析条件的实验室优化；(2)生理参数（如呼吸速率）与酶活性的相关性，以验证分子代理；(3)利用这些酶活性指标估算野外捕获标本的生理状况。

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.