Dissertation Research: Dynamics of Fertilization: Ecological Consequences of Flow on Sperm-egg Interactions

论文研究方向：受精动力学：流动对精子-卵子相互作用的生态影响[j]。Richard K. Zimmer & Jeffrey A. riffell对于传播产卵的海洋动物来说，释放配子的海洋环境的动荡性质会极大地影响受精的成功。水的运动可以将配子运输和混合在一起，促进精子和卵子之间的混合，或者它可以造成快速稀释和防止精子和卵子相遇的有害影响。虽然流量一直被认为是影响受精的关键因素，但在配子的尺度上，精子行为和流体运动对调解配子相遇的影响知之甚少。为了了解配子行为和流体运动对受精的重要性，在模拟自然环境条件下的受控实验室研究是必要和至关重要的。本研究以红鲍鱼（Haliotis rufescens）为模式生物探索受精动力学，建立配子行为、浓度和流体运动对精子-卵子相互作用的影响。这将通过本项目的三个阶段来完成：(i)潮下调查将对成年鲍鱼种群进行普查，流量测量将对典型鲍鱼栖息地（潮下海带床）内的水动力环境进行表征，使我们能够扩大实验室流量池实验的规模，（ii）实验室流量池实验将检查湍流（剪切）和配子浓度对受精的影响，（iii）精子化学感觉介导的行为将在模拟自然流量条件下进行检查。受精被认为是调节许多动物种群动态的一个重要因素，特别是那些将精子和卵子排入大海的海洋生物。在美国西海岸，鲍鱼是一种具有商业价值但生态濒危的资源。本研究提供了调节受精成功的物理和行为机制的新信息，对濒危鲍鱼种群的管理和恢复具有重要意义。

Dissertation Research: Dynamics of Fertilizations: Ecoological Consequences of Flow on Sperm-egg InteractionsDr. Richard K. Zimmer & Jeffrey A. RiffellFor marine animals that broadcast spawn, the turbulent nature of the ocean environment into which the gametes are released can drastically influence successful fertilization. Water motion can transport and mix the gametes together, facilitating commingling between sperm and eggs, or it can have a detrimental effect by causing rapid dilution and prevention of sperm-egg encounters. Although flow has long been recognized as a critical factor influencing fertilization, at the scale of the gametes, little is known about the influence of sperm behavior and fluid motion on mediating gamete encounters. To understand the importance of gamete behavior and fluid motion on fertilization, controlled laboratory studies under simulated natural environmental conditions are necessary and vital. Using the red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) as the model organism for exploring fertilization dynamics, this study will establish the influence of gamete behavior, concentration, and fluid motion on sperm-egg interactions. This will be accomplished through three phases of this project: (i) Subtidal surveys will census adult abalone populations and flow measurements will be taken to characterize aspects of the hydrodynamic environment within typical abalone habitat (subtidal kelp beds), allowing us to scale our laboratory flow-tank experiments, (ii) laboratory flow tank experiments will examine the influence of turbulence (shear) and gamete concentration on fertilization, and (iii) sperm chemosensory-mediated behavior will be examined under simulated natural flow conditions. Fertilization has been implicated as an important factor regulating population dynamics in many animals, particularly in marine organisms that broadcast their sperm and eggs into the sea. Along the western coast of the United States, abalones are commercially valuable but ecologically endangered resource. By providing new information on physical and behavioral mechanisms mediating fertilization success, this study should have significant implications for managing and restoring threatened abalone populations.