DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Developmental Ecology of Solitary and Colonial Ascidians

论文研究：独居和群居海鞘的发育生态学

• 批准号: 0407527
• 负责人: Richard Strathmann
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-06-01 至 2006-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0407527&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Developmental; Ecology; Solitary

Ascidians are a globally distributed group of marine invertebrates which may be solitary or colonial. Colonialism has evolved multiple times in the ascidiacea, along with an associated suite of reproductive characters. Strathmann & Jacobs will investigate the evolution of reproductive strategies by comparing the ecology and development of solitary and colonial ascidians. Their study promises to make several important contributions. First, preliminary data on early growth and survival of solitary and colonial ascidians question basic paradigms of life history strategy, including predicted relationships between egg size, energy content, and offspring fitness. Ascidians are common invasive species worldwide, and the energetics portion of this study will be a timely investigation of potential larval lifespan and hence of dispersal potential. Second, preliminary development data suggest that solitary ascidians, previously thought to be in developmental stasis during dispersal, are capable of an unsuspected degree of differentiation and morphological change while they are competent larvae. This discovery has the potential to change our understanding of how development works in this increasingly important model system and close relative of vertebrates. Finally, this study is one of very few to combine investigations of important developmental transitions with studies of the functional ecological consequences of those changes. This integrative approach could serve as a model for future studies in reproductive ecology and the evolution of development.

海鞘是一种全球性分布的海洋无脊椎动物，可能是独居或集群。 在海鞘科中，殖民主义已经进化了多次，沿着着一套相关的生殖特征。 斯特拉斯曼雅各布斯将通过比较生态学和发展的孤独和殖民海鞘研究生殖策略的演变。 他们的研究有望做出几项重要贡献。 首先，初步数据的早期增长和生存的孤独和殖民海鞘的问题的基本范式的生活史策略，包括预测之间的关系，鸡蛋的大小，能量含量和后代的健身。 海鞘是世界范围内常见的入侵物种，本研究的能量学部分将是对潜在幼虫寿命的及时调查，因此也是对扩散潜力的调查。 第二，初步的发展数据表明，孤独海鞘，以前被认为是在发展停滞在传播过程中，能够一个未知程度的分化和形态变化，而他们是主管幼虫。 这一发现有可能改变我们对这个日益重要的模型系统和脊椎动物近亲的发育方式的理解。 最后，这项研究是为数不多的联合收割机的重要发展转型的研究与这些变化的功能生态后果的研究。 这种综合的方法可以作为一个模式，为未来的研究在生殖生态学和发展的演变。