International Research Fellowship Program: Long-Term Effects of the Developmental Environment on the Immune Response in Ring-Necked Pheasants (Phasianus Colchicus)

国际研究奖学金计划使美国科学家和工程师能够在国外进行三到二十四个月的研究。该计划的奖励为联合研究提供了机会，并利用独特或互补的设施、专业知识和国外的实验条件。该奖项将支持Jennifer L. Grindstaff博士与Henrik G. Smith博士在瑞典隆德大学进行为期22个月的研究。大多数生态免疫学研究认为发育应激对后代免疫功能只有短期影响。本项目在环颈雉（Phasianus colchicus）种群中验证了这一假设，通过在个体发育和/或母系繁殖期间实验消除某些个体的肠道寄生虫，量化后代成年后的免疫反应。在寄生虫操纵期间，还测量了免疫反应，以评估当前条件对免疫反应的影响。最后，对父母和后代进行基因分型，以确定MHC基因型在对特定抗原的免疫反应中的作用。这项研究将有助于我们理解发育在调节成人表型中的作用，以及环境与遗传差异在决定免疫反应强度方面的影响。

0404762GrindstaffThe International Research Fellowship Program enables U.S. scientists and engineers to conduct three to twenty-four months of research abroad. The program's awards provide opportunities for joint research, and the use of unique or complementary facilities, expertise and experimental conditions abroad.This award will support a twenty-two-month research fellowship by Dr. Jennifer L. Grindstaff to work with Dr. Henrik G. Smith at Lund University on Sweden.Most research in ecological immunology assumes that developmental stress has only short-term effects on offspring immune function. This project tests this assumption in a population of ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) by quantifying the immune response of offspring in adulthood after experimentally eliminating intestinal parasites in some individuals during ontogeny and/or during the maternal breeding period. The immune responses during the period of parasite manipulation are also measured to assess the effects of current condition on the immune response. Finally, parents and offspring are genotyped to determine the role of MHC genotype in the immune response to specific antigens. This research will contribute to our understanding of the role of development in modulating the adult phenotype and the influence of environmental versus genetic differences in determining the magnitude of the immune response.