Collaborative Research: BCSP: BIOMAPS: The Hydrodynamics of Predator Sensing and Escape in Zebrafish

捕食是生物体之间的一种基本相互作用，它塑造了群落结构，并对适应度有直接影响。该奖项将支持对决定被捕食鱼生存的感觉和运动系统的研究。这将通过感官线索的实验和数学模型以及猎物的“快速启动”逃跑动作来实现。这项拟议的研究将(1)揭示支配被捕食鱼类感觉和运动系统的动力学，(2)建立斑马鱼作为捕食者-猎物相互作用的模型，以及(3)加强生物研究中计算和实验方法的整合。触发和引导快速启动的流动刺激将通过复制捕食者的方法与机器人捕食者进行实验研究。通过三维测量幼虫的逃逸反应，并对推进的流体力学进行计算建模，将实现对推进如何引导快速启动的逃逸动作的分析。流量感应和快速启动反应的有效性将通过记录捕食者和猎物相互作用时的三维运动以及在这些条件下对猎物的感觉和运动系统进行建模来解决。除了来自实验的数据，研究人员还将通过(1)用MatLab开发生物计算机编程的在线课程，(2)对研究生进行计算建模培训，(3)参与招募少数族裔本科生研究人员的计划，以及(4)开发用于分析和建模动物运动的分析工具，来促进生物生物学家的量化工具。研究结果将发表在同行评议的期刊上，并通过在线数据库(如http://datadryad.org/).)共享

Predation is a fundamental interaction between organisms that shapes community structure and has a direct effect on fitness. This award will support studies on the sensory and motor systems that determine a prey fish's survival. This will be achieved through experimentation and mathematical models of sensory cues and the 'fast start' escape maneuver of prey. The proposed research will (1) reveal the dynamics that govern the sensory and motor systems of prey fish, (2) establish zebrafish as a model for predator-prey interactions, and (3) enhance integration of computational and experimental approaches in organismal research.This work will focus on larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) in three lines of investigation. The flow stimuli that trigger and direct the fast start will be studied experimentally by replicating a predator's approach with a robotic predator. Analysis of how propulsion directs a fast-start escape maneuver will be achieved by measuring the escape responses of larvae in 3D and computationally modeling the hydrodynamics of propulsion. The efficacy of flow sensing and fast start responses will be addressed by recording the three-dimensional motion of predators and prey as they interact and by modeling the sensory and motor systems of the prey under these conditions. In addition to data from experiments, the investigators will advance the quantitative tools of organismal biologists by (1) developing an on-line course in biological computer programming in Matlab, (2) training graduate students in computational modeling, (3) participating in programs that recruit minority undergraduate researchers, and (4) developing analytical tools for the analysis and modeling of animal motion. Results from the studies will be published in peer-reviewed journals and shared through on-line data repositories (e.g., http://datadryad.org/).