EAPSI: Impacts of Levels of a Pesticide Mixture on Hormones and Behavior in the World?s only Self-Fertilizing Fish

唯一的自我受精的脊椎动物，红树林千里鱼，是正在消失的野生红树林栖息地环境污染的指示器。这项研究将利用一种新的实验方法，利用一种分析行为和激素反应表型灵活性的新实验方法，探索不同时间暴露于与生物和环境相关的杀虫剂、杀菌剂和除草剂的混合水平对红树林千里鱼(K.marmoratus)的攻击行为、竞争动态、睾酮(T)和皮质醇(F)的影响。这项研究将与台湾台北国立师范大学的徐玉英博士合作进行。徐实验室拥有圈养的红树林杀人鱼种群，为国际合作提供了独特的机会。这项研究是对高尔夫球场活鸟行为和荷尔蒙的论文研究的补充。以千里鱼为模型，这项在台湾的研究将检视在本高尔夫球场及其他高尔夫球场普遍使用的杀虫剂混合物如何影响行为和荷尔蒙的扩展，在我的论文工作中。这项研究可能会对目前被认为具有最小生理影响的污染物水平的影响(如果有的话)提供信息。研究一个独特的物种，同时促进与世界科学研究领先者的国际合作，对我的个人和职业发展都是有价值的。基因控制与攻击行为、睾酮和皮质醇之间关于对同种冲突的反应之间的可预测关系在红树林千金鱼中得到了很好的研究。这提供了有价值且难以控制的遗传变异，通常被认为是荷尔蒙-行为关系中个体变异的罪魁祸首。这一实验设计是独一无二的，因为鱼将暴露在与环境相关的杀虫剂混合物中。暴露将发生短时间(7天)和长时间间隔(14天)；虽然传统方法通常使用较短的暴露时间，但与自然体验相比，这是不现实的。测量暴露后的攻击性、睾丸素和皮质醇也偏离了实验室污染物研究中测量的传统终点。通过利用新的动物模型和毒理学终点，结合生物学方法，并考虑多种污染物的协同影响，可以从现实的角度研究污染物对生理和行为的敏感影响。结合行为内分泌学和毒理学的跨学科方法对于了解污染物可能如何影响行为和荷尔蒙特征，最终影响人类和野生动物种群的健康是必要的。该奖项由东亚和太平洋夏季学院项目资助一名美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和台湾科技部联合资助。

The only self-fertilizing vertebrate, the mangrove killifish, serves as an indicator of environmental pollution in disappearing wild mangrove habitat. The research will explore varying lengths of exposure to biologically and environmentally relevant levels of mixtures of insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides on aggressive behavior, contest dynamics, testosterone (T), and cortisol (F) in the mangrove killifish (K. marmoratus) utilizing a novel experimental approach analyzing flexibility in behavioral and hormonal response phenotypes. The research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Yuying Hsu of National Normal Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. The Hsu lab houses captive populations of the mangrove killfish, offering a unique opportunity for international collaboration. The research augments dissertation research examining behavior and hormones in golf course living birds. Using the killifish as a model, the research in Taiwan will examine how pesticide mixtures commonly in use at this, and other, golf courses may influence behavior and hormones expanding upon my dissertation work. This research may inform on impacts (if any) of levels of contaminants currently thought to have minimal physiological impacts. Studying a unique species while fostering international collaboration with a world leader in scientific research will be valuable to my personal and professional development. Genetic control with predictable relationships between aggressive behavior, testosterone, and cortisol regarding responses to conspecific conflict are well studied in the mangrove killifish. This provides valuable and difficult to achieve control of genetic variation, often thought responsible for individual variation in hormone-behavior relationships. The experimental design is unique, as fish will be exposed to environmentally relevant levels of a pesticide mixture. Exposure will occur for short (7 days) and long intervals (14 days); while traditional methodology typically uses shorter exposure periods this is unrealistic compared to what is experienced naturally. Measuring aggression, testosterone, and cortisol after exposure also deviates from traditional endpoints measured in laboratory contaminant studies. By utilizing novel animal models and toxicological endpoints, in concert with biological methodology, and accounting for synergistic impacts of multiple contaminants, a realistic perspective concerning sensitive impacts of contaminants on physiology and behavior is possible. Interdisciplinary approaches combining behavioral endocrinology and toxicology are necessary for understanding how contaminants may impact behavioral and hormonal profiles, and ultimately, the health of human and wildlife populations.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 Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan.