RUI: Molecular Regulation of Sodium Transport Systems in Euryhaline Animals

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9407261 Towle Euryhaline animals by definition are capable of tolerating a broad range of salt levels in their aquatic environments. An example is the green shore crab Carcinus maenas, an introduced species in many intertidal habitats around the world. This crab succeeds in a range of environmental salinities by regulating its own salt levels in the blood, depending on transport systems in its multifunctional gills. Two sodium transporters in crab gill, a sodium/hydrogen exchanger and a sodium/potassium pump, are very similar to transporters in the mammalian kidney. If we can learn more about how the green crab and other euryhaline animals cope with varying salt loads under natural conditions, perhaps we will better understand processes in our own kidney which may be related to hypertension and other disorders of homeostasis. We may also learn enough about the specifics of the physiology of Carcinus to suggest environmentally safe approaches to its control as a pest species. Dr. Towle plans to study the two sodium transporters in the crab using the techniques of molecular biology. He will identify the genetic code for each of the transporters using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Determining the DNA sequence of each will permit a comparison with similar transporters in mammals and other vertebrates. He will also be able to study the molecular expression of each transporter in different specialized tissues under various salinity challenges. He expects that the transporters will be expressed most strongly in gills of animals challenged with low environmental salt, conditions in which salt uptake would be adaptive. The research will be accomplished with the assistance of undergraduates at Lake Forest College and Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. ***