EAPSI: Determining host seeking through olfaction in the nematode Parastrongyloides trichosuri

EAPSI：通过毛苏副圆线虫的嗅觉确定宿主寻找

• 批准号: 1414655
• 负责人: Spencer Gang
• 金额: $ 0.51万
• 依托单位: Gang Spencer
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-06-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1414655&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Determining; host; seeking; through

Parasitic nematodes of humans, animals, and plants are major sources of economic loss and health-related hardship. The impact on human health alone is staggering. Current estimates suggest that nearly 1 billion people globally harbor a parasitic nematode infection. Despite their prevalence, our understanding of how parasitic nematodes find and infect their appropriate biological hosts remains poorly characterized. Olfaction is widely thought to be an important aspect of host seeking, since it is the sensory modality most likely to confer species-specificity. This project will elucidate the extent to which parasitic nematodes rely on host-emitted odors to find and infect a host. This research will be conducted at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia in collaboration with Dr. Warwick Grant, a global leader on nematode genetics. Dr. Grant also has unparalleled expertise with a unique parasitic nematode, Parastrongyloides trichosuri, whose native hosts are Australian possums. Research efforts in parasitic nematodes have been hampered by an inability to develop genetically tractable model species. The goal of this project is to develop Parastrongyloides trichosuri, a parasitic nematode of the Australian possum, as a model for odor-driven host seeking and the genetic analysis of olfactory neural circuits. Among parasitic nematodes, P. trichosuri is uniquely amenable to in vitro culturing, genetic manipulation, and transgenesis. This project will focus on conducting quantitative behavioral analysis, laser and genetic ablation analysis, and calcium imaging of P. trichosuri. The project aims to gain insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which parasitic nematodes locate hosts to infect. By determining the host-specific odors that promote host seeking, and the underlying neural basis for the behavior, this study will facilitate development of new strategies to combat nematode infection. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Australian Academy of Science.

人类、动物和植物的寄生线虫是经济损失和健康相关困难的主要来源。仅对人类健康的影响就令人震惊。目前估计表明，全球有近 10 亿人患有寄生线虫感染。尽管寄生线虫很普遍，但我们对寄生线虫如何找到并感染其适当的生物宿主的了解仍然很少。嗅觉被广泛认为是寻找宿主的一个重要方面，因为它是最有可能赋予物种特异性的感觉方式。该项目将阐明寄生线虫在多大程度上依赖宿主发出的气味来寻找和感染宿主。这项研究将在澳大利亚墨尔本的拉筹伯大学与线虫遗传学领域的全球领导者 Warwick Grant 博士合作进行。格兰特博士还对一种独特的寄生线虫——毛苏副圆线虫（Parastrongyloides trichosuri）拥有无与伦比的专业知识，其本土宿主是澳大利亚负鼠。由于无法开发遗传上易于处理的模型物种，寄生线虫的研究工作受到了阻碍。该项目的目标是开发毛苏副圆线虫（澳大利亚负鼠的一种寄生线虫），作为气味驱动的宿主寻找和嗅觉神经回路遗传分析的模型。在寄生线虫中，毛线虫具有独特的体外培养、遗传操作和转基因能力。该项目将侧重于对毛鱼进行定量行为分析、激光和基因消融分析以及钙成像。该项目旨在深入了解寄生线虫定位宿主进行感染的细胞和分子机制。通过确定促进宿主寻找的宿主特异性气味以及行为的潜在神经基础，这项研究将有助于制定对抗线虫感染的新策略。该 NSF EAPSI 奖项是与澳大利亚科学院合作资助的。