RUI: Collaboration: Biochemical Adaptation in a Montane Insect Herbivore

排名9808835。这些项目将研究生活在加州内华达山脉东部的叶甲虫（Chrysomela aeneicollis）的温度适应机制。pi选择了生活在三个以陡峭的海拔和热梯度为特征的流域中的甲虫种群：Big Pine Creek， Bishop Creek和Rock Creek。pi将表征这些排水的热环境，并确定生活在各种微栖息地的甲虫的体温。整个夏天，每个排水系统将在三个高度连续测量空气温度。pi将精确地绘制每个地方阳光和阴凉的栖息地。pi将使用配备微型热电偶的数字温度计在整个夏天测量成年甲虫和幼虫的体温：白天在一个地方，几天内在不同的高度，在每个地方的阳光和阴凉的地方。pi还将量化已知体温的甲虫中热应激诱导蛋白HSP70的组织水平。最后，pi将使用酶电泳来描述群体的遗传特征。这些结果将使我们能够量化环境温度的变化和甲虫对它的反应。这个项目的现场和实验室部分将涉及本科生的广泛参与。

Rank 9808835 The PIs will examine mechanisms of temperature adaptation in the leaf beetle Chrysomela aeneicollis living in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. The PIs have selected beetle populations living in three drainages characterized by steep altitudinal and thermal gradients: Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek, and Rock Creek. The PIs will characterize the thermal environment of these drainages and determine the body temperatures of beetles living in a variety of microhabitats. Air temperatures will be measured continuously over the summer at three altitudes per drainage. The PIs will map sunny and shady habitats in each locality precisely. The PIs will use digital thermometers equipped with micro-thermocouples to measure the body temperatures of adult beetles and larvae over the course of the summer: at a single location during the day, at different altitudes over several days, and in sunny and shady sites in each locality. The PIs will also quantify tissue levels of the heatstress inducible protein HSP70 in beetles of known body temperature. Finally, the PIs will use enzyme electrophoresis to characterize the populations genetically. These results will allow us to quantify environmental temperature variation and the beetles' response to it. Both field and laboratory portions of this project will involve extensive participation of undergraduates.