EAGER: Environmental Alterations of the Animal Development Plan: Testing the Heterokairy Hypothesis

该项目研究了发育生理学中一个潜在的转变概念——生理异胚性（在个体和种群水平上重组动物的生理发育计划）——目前主要是理论上的。这个项目的目标是确定在发育过程中缺氧是否会影响一种呼吸空气的鱼蓝gourami开始空气呼吸的发育计划的时间。将测量空气呼吸器官的结构发育和其有效性的开始。正在验证的假设是，在缺氧条件下生长的幼虫，呼吸空气的开始和支持器官的发育（这将“拯救”幼虫免受缺氧造成的有害影响）会更快地发育，这说明了器官系统发育关键事件的根本重组。对异位胚的实验支持可能会对发育生理学家在器官系统水平上解释环境对发育时间表的影响产生重大变化。我们怀疑异位性的存在，但这个概念还有待系统地检验。我们的初步实验表明，gourami有能力根据环境变化改变其发育，因此是一个非常合适的测试物种。除了研究生培训的影响外，这项资助还将通过与UNT在墨西哥的“姐妹机构”合作，创造国际研究经验，帮助那些从他们的文化起源中漂泊的西班牙裔/拉丁裔学生“重新发现遗产”。这些活动将使学生了解生物学的国际范围；提供科学交流的机会；并让墨西哥裔学生意识到他们祖籍国丰富的科学和文化成就。该项目由生物科学理事会综合有机体系统司和国际科学与工程办公室资助。

This project investigates a potentially transforming concept in developmental physiology - physiological heterokairy (restructuring of the animal's physiological developmental plan at the individual and population levels) - that currently is mostly theoretical. The goal of this project is to determine whether deprivation of oxygen during development affects the timing of the development plan for the start of aerial respiration in an air-breathing fish, the blue gourami. Measurements will be made of the structural development of the air breathing organ and of the onset of its effectiveness. The hypothesis being tested is that the onset of air-breathing and the development of supporting organs, which would "rescue" the larvae from the harmful effects caused by the lack of oxygen, will develop sooner in larvae growing with little oxygen, illustrating fundamental restructuring of key events in organ system development. Experimental support for heterokairy could create a major change in how developmental physiologists interpret the environment's effects on the developmental timetable at the organ system level. We suspect that heterokairy occurs, but this concept has yet to be systematically examined. Our preliminary experiments show that the gourami has the ability to change its development in response to environmental changes and so is a highly appropriate species for testing. Beyond the impacts of graduate training, this grant will create international research experiences through partnership with UNT's "sister institution" in Mexico, helping to enable "heritage rediscovery" in students of Hispanic/Latino descent who have drifted from their cultural origins. These activities will provide students with an appreciation for the international scope of biology; provide opportunities for scientific networking; and create awareness among students of Mexican descent of the rich scientific and cultural achievements of their ancestral home. This project is funded by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (Directorate for Biological Sciences) and the Office of International Science and Engineering.