RUI: Molecular Mechanisms of Euryhalinity

Towle 9807539全盐度，是一种耐受广泛环境盐度的能力，是一小部分动植物物种的特性。然而，一些泛盐生物种可能非常多产，切萨皮克湾的蓝蟹就是一个例子。PI的目标是发现实现全盐度的分子机制，重点关注一组密切相关的动物，这些动物表现出一系列对盐度的适应。蓝蟹本身就是极具广盐性的，在淡水和比正常海水更密集的泻湖中繁衍生息。然而，它的近亲Callinectes similis无法在稀释的盐度中生存下来。PIS将研究这些物种以及第三种中间物种--绿色岸蟹，以描述使常盐性成为可能的基因和蛋白质。PI将专注于三种候选转运蛋白，它们可能调节鳃对钠的吸收。PI假设是，编码重要蛋白质的基因在耐受物种中是活跃的，而在不耐受物种中是不活跃或较不活跃的。所有候选转运蛋白都与哺乳动物和其他脊椎动物肾脏对盐的处理有关。如果PI能够证明与盐度相关的一个或多个转运蛋白基因的激活，PI将着手寻找假想的调控“钠摄取反应元件”(“SURE”)。

Towle 9807539 Euryhalinity, the ability to tolerate a breadth of environmental salinities, is a property of a small number of plant and animal species. However, some euryhaline species may be very prolific, exemplified by the blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay. The PIs goals are to discover the molecular mechanisms that enable euryhalinity, focusing on a group of closely related animals that exhibit an array of adaptations to salinity. The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is itself extremely euryhaline, thriving in fresh water and lagoons more concentrated than normal sea water. Its close relative, Callinectes similis, however, cannot survive dilute salinities. The PIs will study these plus a third intermediate species, the green shore crab Carcinus maenas, to describe the genes and proteins that make euryhalinity possible. The PIs will focus on three candidate transporter proteins that may regulate the uptake of sodium by the gill. The PIs hypothesis is that the genes coding for important proteins will be active in tolerant species but inactive or less active in intolerant species. All of the candidate transporter proteins have been implicated in salt handling by kidneys of mammals and other vertebrates. If the PIs are able to demonstrate salinity-related activation of one or more of the transporter genes, the PIs will embark on a search for the hypothetical regulatory "sodium uptake response element" ("SURE").