Physiological Mechanism of Reproductive Timing in Females

女性生殖时间的生理机制

• 批准号: 1122044
• 负责人: George Bentley
• 金额: $ 60万
• 依托单位: University of California-Berkeley
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-01-15 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1122044&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Physiological; Mechanism; Reproductive; Timing; Females

Climate change is one of the largest threats to biodiversity of our times. Determining the rate of climate change that populations can cope with is, therefore, information that is urgently needed. About half of the 10,000 bird species in the world are members of the order Passeriformes. A changing environment can influence the physiology and reproductive success of passerine bird species, yet nothing is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the onset of egg-laying in any passerine species. This realization is quite remarkable when one considers that the "decision" of whether or not a female bird begins to lay eggs is the moment that defines the whole breeding season for that individual and her mate(s), with profound current and future fitness consequences. This project will uncover specific mechanisms regulating the initiation of breeding in female songbirds. One of the most intensely studied species with respect to ecology and reproductive timing, the European great tit (Parus major) will be used. This is an international collaboration that will combine the expertise of the PI, George Bentley (UC Berkeley, USA), whose lab studies mechanisms underlying physiology of reproduction, Marcel Visser (The Netherlands Institute of Ecology) who is at the forefront of ecological research and the effects of climate change, and Michaela Hau (Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology, Germany) who is an expert in development of theoretical frameworks that integrate endocrine and evolutionary theory. The broader impacts include training of minority graduate students in laboratories in different countries, encouragement of undergraduate participation in research and scientific meetings, and involvement of undergraduates in the publication process. This project fosters collaboration between premier ecology of climate-change and evolutionary biology laboratories in Europe and physiology of reproduction in the USA. Furthermore, the intellectual merit of the results obtained includes advancement our understanding of the mechanisms underlying how wild female birds time their "decision to lay eggs" something which we know almost nothing about, despite almost a century of research on similar mechanisms in male birds.

气候变化是我们这个时代对生物多样性的最大威胁之一。因此，确定人口能够科普的气候变化速度是迫切需要的信息。 世界上10，000种鸟类中约有一半属于雀形目。一个不断变化的环境可以影响雀形目鸟类的生理和繁殖成功，但没有什么是已知的任何雀形目鸟类产卵的发病的分子机制。当人们考虑到雌性鸟类是否开始产卵的“决定”是定义该个体及其配偶整个繁殖季节的时刻时，这种认识是非常了不起的，并对当前和未来的健康产生深远的影响。这个项目将揭示调控雌性鸣禽繁殖开始的具体机制。欧洲大山雀（Parus major）是在生态学和生殖时间方面研究最深入的物种之一。这是一项国际合作，将联合收割机的专业知识，PI，乔治宾利（加州大学伯克利分校，美国），其实验室研究生殖生理学的基础机制，（荷兰生态研究所），他是生态研究和气候变化影响的最前沿，（Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology，德国），他是整合内分泌和进化理论的理论框架开发方面的专家。 更广泛的影响包括在不同国家的实验室培训少数民族研究生，鼓励大学生参加研究和科学会议，以及大学生参与出版过程。该项目促进了欧洲气候变化和进化生物学实验室与美国生殖生理学实验室之间的合作。此外，所获得的结果的智力价值包括促进我们对野生雌性鸟类如何确定“产卵决定”的机制的理解，尽管对雄性鸟类的类似机制进行了近世纪的研究，但我们几乎一无所知。