RUI - Impaired Metabolism and Performance in Crustaceans Exposed to Bacteria

低氧(缺氧)是生活在沿海水域的生物的现实生活。沿海开发和污染的人类影响可能会进一步加剧缺氧。初步证据表明，虾和蟹等甲壳类动物可能特别容易受到缺氧不利影响的影响。甲壳动物的鳃在呼吸和血盐调节中起着关键作用。鳃还起到免疫防御的作用，甲壳类免疫系统(血细胞)的细胞与穿透外骨骼的细菌聚集在一起，形成坚硬的结节，阻碍血液流动，从而干扰呼吸。事实上，被注射了亚致死剂量细菌的蓝蟹和虾的氧气摄取和有氧代谢受到了损害。目前的研究验证了一种观点，即即使在溶解氧水平较高的沿海水域，对细菌发动免疫防御的行为也会干扰虾和蟹从事正常游泳或觅食活动的能力，而且这种影响将因环境压力而加剧，如缺氧。将向太平洋白虾、凡纳滨对虾和大西洋蓝蟹注射细菌，监测有氧代谢和厌氧代谢的变化，以及调节新陈代谢的基因的表达。测量将在休息、运动或暴露在低氧环境中的动物身上进行。预计这些研究将表明，至少在甲壳类动物中，免疫反应本身可能会使有机体更难对低氧环境做出反应或进行重大的体力活动。在从事这项研究期间，这些研究人员将继续与美国四所主要本科院校的学生一起授课、培训和发表文章。这项研究涉及与生态和经济上重要物种的健康相关的问题。

Low oxygen (hypoxia) is a fact of life for organisms living in coastal waters. Human influences of coastal development and pollution can further exacerbate hypoxia. Preliminary evidence suggests that crustaceans, such as shrimp and crabs, may be at particular risk from the adverse effects of hypoxia. The crustacean gill plays a critical role in respiration and blood salt regulation. The gill also serves in immune defense, where cells of the crustacean immune system (hemocytes) aggregate with bacteria that penetrate the exoskeleton, forming hard nodules that impede blood flow and, thereby, interfere with respiration. Indeed, oxygen uptake and aerobic metabolism are impaired in blue crabs and shrimp that have been injected with a sublethal dose of bacteria. The current studies test the idea that, even in coastal waters where levels of dissolved oxygen are high, the act of launching an immune defense against bacteria interferes with the ability of shrimp and crabs to engage in normal activities of swimming or feeding and that this effect will be exacerbated by environmental stress, such as hypoxia. Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, and the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, will be injected with bacteria and monitored for changes in aerobic and anaerobic metabolism, and the expression of genes that regulate metabolism. Measurements will be made on animals that are resting, exercised or exposed to hypoxia. It is expected that these studies will show that, at least among crustaceans, the immune response itself may make it more difficult for an organism to respond to hypoxic environments or to engage in significant physical activity. While engaged in this research, which addresses questions related to the health of ecologically and economically important species, these investigators will continue to teach, train and publish with students from four primarily undergraduate institutions in the US.