RUI: Molecular Mechanisms of Euryhalinity

耐盐性，即对各种环境盐度的耐受能力，是少数植物和动物物种的特性。然而，一些泛盐物种可能非常多产，例如切萨皮克湾的蓝蟹。pi的目标是发现使全盐化的分子机制，重点关注一组表现出一系列适应盐度的密切相关的动物。蓝蟹（Callinectes sapidus）本身具有极强的泛盐性，在比正常海水浓度更高的淡水和泻湖中茁壮成长。然而，它的近亲，类似的Callinectes不能在稀释的盐度中生存。pi将研究这些和第三种中间物种，绿岸蟹致癌，以描述使泛化成为可能的基因和蛋白质。PIs将重点关注三种可能调节鳃对钠的摄取的候选转运蛋白。PIs假说认为，编码重要蛋白质的基因在耐受性物种中活跃，而在不耐受性物种中不活跃或活性较低。所有候选转运蛋白都与哺乳动物和其他脊椎动物的肾脏处理盐有关。如果pi能够证明一个或多个转运体基因的盐相关激活，pi将着手寻找假设的调节“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").