DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Microevolution of stress-response. Genetic, developmental, and molecular analyses of a unique NF-kB SNP

海葵是一种河口动物，已成为研究发育、生态学和基因组学的重要新模式系统。之前对线虫的研究已经发现了一种多态，一种基因的变体，可能会影响动物抵抗氧化应激的能力(由水中高水平的过氧化氢引起)。有问题的多态存在于核因子-kappaB基因中，该基因被认为对对抗昆虫和脊椎动物的环境压力非常重要。目前的研究将使海葵受到压力，包括氧化应激、高温和病原体暴露。整个生物体的应激反应将通过研究其再生缺失身体部位的能力来评估。核因子-kappaB蛋白的应激反应将通过使用标记的抗体监测其在细胞内的运动来评估。这项研究将揭示(1)线虫是否使用核因子-kappaB来对抗环境压力，以及(2)该基因的不同形式是否使动物对氧化应激具有不同的敏感性。这项研究将提高我们对生物如何在分子水平上对抗逆境的理解，并将促进线虫发展成为监测我们河口环境应激的哨兵物种。在这个快速的全球气候变化时代，生物必须适应不断变化的环境，迁移到新的栖息地，否则将面临灭绝。河口生物面临着特别艰巨的挑战，因为河口本身就是中等盐度的孤立岛屿，周围环绕着淡水和咸水，这可能会成为河口生物迁徙的障碍。随着地球变暖，河口将经历更高的温度、更快的蒸发水分损失、更高的盐度和更高的过氧化氢水平(这是当太阳的紫外线照射在缓慢移动的浅水上时造成的)。鉴于河口为许多具有重要商业价值的鱼类、贝类和岸鸟提供食物、产卵场和育儿所，了解河口生物如何抵抗压力和适应不断变化的环境是很重要的。

The starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis, is an estuarine animal that has become an important new model system for studying development, ecology and genomics. Previous studies on Nematostella have identified a polymorphism, a variant form of a gene, that may impact the animal's ability to resist oxidative stress (caused by high levels of peroxides in the water). The polymorphism in question occurs in the NF-kappaB gene, a gene that is known to be important for combatting environmental stress in insects and vertebrates. The current study will subject sea anemones to stress, including oxidative stress, heat, and pathogen exposure. The stress-response of the whole organism will be evaluated by studying its ability to regenerate missing body parts. The stress-response of the NF-kappaB protein will be evaluated by monitoring its movement within the cell using labeled antibodies. The study will reveal (1) whether NF-kappaB is used by Nematostella to combat environmental stress, and (2) whether different forms of the gene render the animal differentially susceptible to oxidative stress. This research will improve our understanding of how organisms combat stress at the molecular level, and it will foster the development of Nematostella into a sentinel species for monitoring environmental stress in our estuaries.In this era of rapid global climate change, organisms must adapt to shifting environments, migrate to new habitats, or face extinction. Estuarine organisms face a particularly daunting challenge because estuaries are inherently isolated islands of moderate salinity surrounded by fresh- and salt-water that can serve as barriers to the migration of estuarine creatures. As the planet warms, estuaries will experience higher temperatures, more rapid evaporative water loss, increased salinity, and higher peroxide levels (which result when the ultraviolet rays of the sun beat down on shallow slow-moving waters). Given that estuaries provide food, spawning grounds, and nurseries for many commercially important fishes, shellfish, and shore birds, it is important that we understand how estuarine organisms combat stress and adapt to changing environments.