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RUI: Collaborative Research: Exploring Barnacle Exoskeleton Development and Materials Properties as a Function of Growth Environment

RUI：合作研究：探索藤壶外骨骼的发育和材料特性作为生长环境的函数

基本信息

批准号：
1905466
负责人：
Gary Dickinson
金额：
$ 18.47万
依托单位：
The College of New Jersey
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2019
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2019-08-15 至 2024-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1905466&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
RUI Collaborative Research Exploring Barnacle

项目摘要

Non-Technical SummaryBarnacles have attracted the attention of explorers, scientists, and sailors for millennia. They are crustaceans, similar to shrimp, lobsters, and crabs, but unlike their freely moving relatives are encased in a hard outer shell and securely stuck to a surface. The barnacle outer shell is a biomineral, a composite material consisting of a mixture of proteins, chitin (fibrous strings of sugar molecules), and minerals, which in barnacles are largely calcium carbonate. Despite the fact that barnacles play a large ecological and economical role -as they stick to ships, hulls, amongst other surfaces, causing the ships to slow down and use more fuel- little is known about how the barnacle exoskeleton forms or if climate changes predicted in coming years will alter this formation process. The proposed work, done entirely by undergraduate students under the supervision of the two project PIs, focuses on determining how the exoskeleton forms by examining the very early stages of exoskeleton development. In addition, the project will explore how the formation process changes when barnacles are grown in warmer and more acidic waters. This work will not only provide information on the formation of an interesting and potentially useful material, but also how an economically and ecologically important organism will respond to predicted future ocean conditions. Beyond this basic knowledge, the project will provide invaluable training opportunities in STEM to undergraduates at both Colgate and TCNJ, as well as to high school students from underrepresented communities in New York. Technical SummaryThe barnacle exoskeleton is a robust biomineralized tissue, yet it is structurally disordered on the atomic to micrometer level. This is in contrast to most well-studied biomineralized tissues (e.g. vertebrate bone, mollusk shells) which have ordered, hierarchical structures. The goal of this project is to characterize the developmental process by which this disordered exoskeleton forms and the extent to which environmental conditions impact the exoskeletal material. The first objective is to identify the composition, structure, and materials properties of the barnacle exoskeleton during the time period immediately following metamorphosis through to full mineralization under ambient marine conditions. Juvenile barnacles will be tracked following metamorphosis from larval cyprids through a combination of techniques (confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, x-ray photoemission electron microscopy (X-PEEM), micro-indentation, and nano-indentation), allowing determination on whether certain materials properties, such as fracture toughness, are linked to a disordered structure. The second objective is to examine how the composition, structure, and materials properties of the developing exoskeleton behave under decreased pH and increased temperature (mimicking predicted ocean conditions in the year 2100 with current climate change predictions). The results from these experiments will provide insight into the functionality of disordered biological materials, while also providing information into whether an ecologically and economically important organism will be impacted by impending environmental changes. In addition to the important fundamental knowledge derived from these experiments is the broader impact the proposed work will have on undergraduate and high school students. Undergraduate researchers, under the supervision of the two PIs, will conduct the entirety of the proposed work, participating in not only the research, but also conferences and manuscript preparation. A workshop for high school students from underrepresented communities in New York, in conjunction with Camp Fiver, will be based on the results of the proposed work, exposing and involving the high school students in scientific research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

藤壶吸引了探险家，科学家和水手的注意力数千年。它们是甲壳类动物，类似于虾、龙虾和螃蟹，但与它们自由移动的亲戚不同的是，它们被包裹在坚硬的外壳中，并牢固地粘在表面上。藤壶外壳是一种生物矿物，是一种由蛋白质、几丁质（糖分子的纤维串）和矿物质组成的复合材料，藤壶中的矿物质主要是碳酸钙。尽管藤壶在生态和经济方面发挥着重要作用--因为它们附着在船只、船体等表面上，导致船只减速并使用更多燃料--但人们对藤壶外骨骼的形成方式或未来几年预测的气候变化是否会改变这一形成过程知之甚少。拟议的工作，完全由本科生在两个项目PI的监督下完成，重点是通过检查外骨骼发展的早期阶段来确定外骨骼是如何形成的。此外，该项目还将探索当藤壶在更温暖和更酸性的沃茨中生长时，形成过程如何变化。这项工作不仅将提供关于一种有趣的和潜在有用的材料的形成的信息，而且还将提供一种具有经济和生态重要性的有机体将如何对预测的未来海洋条件作出反应的信息。除了这些基本知识，该项目还将为高露洁和TCNJ的本科生以及来自纽约代表性不足社区的高中生提供宝贵的STEM培训机会。技术概述藤壶外骨骼是一种坚固的生物矿化组织，但它在原子到微米水平上结构混乱。这与大多数研究充分的生物矿化组织（例如脊椎动物骨，软体动物壳）形成对比，后者具有有序的分级结构。该项目的目标是描述这种无序外骨骼形成的发育过程以及环境条件影响外骨骼材料的程度。第一个目标是确定的组合物，结构和材料性能的藤壶外骨骼在一段时间内立即通过充分矿化环境下的海洋条件下的变态。青少年藤壶将通过技术（共聚焦显微镜，扫描电子显微镜，拉曼光谱，X射线光电子发射显微镜（X-PEEM），微压痕，纳米压痕）的组合跟踪后，从幼虫Cyprids变态，允许确定某些材料的性能，如断裂韧性，是否与无序结构。第二个目标是研究发育中的外骨骼的组成、结构和材料特性在pH值降低和温度升高的情况下如何表现（模拟2100年预测的海洋条件和当前的气候变化预测）。这些实验的结果将提供对无序生物材料功能的深入了解，同时还提供有关生态和经济重要生物体是否会受到即将发生的环境变化影响的信息。除了从这些实验中获得的重要基础知识外，拟议的工作将对本科生和高中生产生更广泛的影响。本科研究人员在两名PI的监督下，将进行整个拟议工作，不仅参与研究，还参加会议和手稿准备。在纽约为代表性不足的社区的高中生举办的研讨会将与Camp Fiver一起，以拟议工作的结果为基础，让高中生参与科学研究。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。