EAPSI:Investigating an Unknown Sensory Structure in Eastern Leaf-dwelling Praying Mantises

EAPSI：研究东部叶栖螳螂的未知感觉结构

• 批准号: 1614151
• 负责人: Sydney Brannoch
• 金额: $ 0.54万
• 依托单位: Brannoch Sydney K
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1614151&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAPSI; Investigating; Unknown; Sensory; Structure

The role sensory systems play in mediating an organism?s environment is critical to developing our understanding of how information is perceived and processed. A potentially new sensory organ, the furcasternal tubercle, was discovered within a family of leaf-dwelling praying mantises (Mantodea, Iridopterygidae) that reside on the undersides of broad-leaf vegetation, a unique ecological niche within Mantodea. This research seeks to uncover the environmental information that the sensory organ encode. The work will be conducted in collaboration with Drs. Marie Herberstein and Kate Barry, prominent researchers in ethology and ecology, at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The characterization of a novel sensory organ will provide further insights into neural systems as they relate to ecological niche specialization.Preliminary investigations of the furcasternal tubercle revealed that it is surfaced with a variable number of articulating surface hairs, suggesting a mechanosensory function, and histological sectioning uncovered the presence of neural tissue within the structure. Behavioral and neurophysiological assays will be conducted to determine what behaviors the furcasternal tubercle modulates; extracellular recordings from the neural tissues within the structure will conclusively demonstrate the neural activity generated when the structure is stimulated. This research seeks to uncover the furcasternal tubercle?s physiological role within the context of the group?s unique habitat use. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Australian Academy of Science.

感觉系统在调节有机体中的作用？的环境是至关重要的发展我们的理解如何信息的感知和处理。 一个潜在的新的感觉器官，furcasternal结节，被发现在一个家庭的叶居螳螂（Mantodea，虹膜科），居住在下侧的阔叶植被，一个独特的生态位内Mantodea。这项研究旨在揭示感觉器官编码的环境信息。这项工作将与澳大利亚悉尼麦考瑞大学动物行为学和生态学的杰出研究人员玛丽赫伯斯坦和凯特巴里博士合作进行。一个新的感觉器官的表征将提供进一步的见解神经系统，因为它们涉及到生态位specialization.Preliminary调查的furcasternal结节显示，它是表面与可变数量的关节表面的毛，这表明mechanosensory功能，和组织切片发现的结构内的神经组织的存在。将进行行为和神经生理学测定，以确定胸骨后结节调节哪些行为;结构内神经组织的细胞外记录将最终证明结构受到刺激时产生的神经活动。这项研究旨在揭示furcasternal结节？的生理作用的背景下，该集团？独特的栖息地利用。 东亚和太平洋夏季研究所计划下的这个奖项支持美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和澳大利亚科学院共同资助。