POWRE: A Pilot Study of Chemoreception Mechanisms in Deposit-Feeding Polychaetes

该提案已提交给 NSF 范围内的女性研究和教育专业机会 (POWRE) 计划。该项目负责人提议开始研究协调刺多毛类（一种常见的食性无脊椎动物）化学感受的感觉机制。 这些蠕虫广泛分布在软沉积物底栖海洋环境中，与其他沉积物饲养者一起，造成了对该环境至关重要的生物扰动。一些证据表明，化学感受可能协调沉积物摄入率和多种物种的沉积物摄食的其他方面。拟议的研究将尝试确定蠕虫用于检测化学刺激的一些生理和分子机制。

This proposal was submitted to the NSF-wide Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program. The PI proposes to begin research on the sensory mechanisms coordinating chemoreception in spionid polychaetes, a common deposit-feeding invertebrate. These worms are widely distributed in soft-sediment benthic marine environments and, along with other deposit-feeders, are responsible for the bioturbation that is important to this environment. Some evidence indicates that chemoreception may coordinate sediment ingestion rate and other aspects of deposit-feeding in a variety of species. The proposed research will attempt to identify some of the physiological and molecular mechanisms used by the worms to detect chemical stimuli.