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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：
1905619
负责人：
Rebecca Metzler
金额：
$ 27.53万
依托单位：
Colgate University
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=1905619&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.

几千年来，藤壶一直吸引着探险家、科学家和水手的注意。它们是甲壳类动物，类似于虾、龙虾和螃蟹，但与它们自由活动的亲戚不同的是，它们被坚硬的外壳包裹着，牢牢地粘在表面上。藤壶的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）和矿物质混合而成的复合材料，在藤壶中，矿物质主要是碳酸钙。尽管藤壶在生态和经济上扮演着重要的角色——因为它们附着在船只、船体和其他表面上，导致船只减速并消耗更多的燃料——但人们对藤壶外骨骼是如何形成的，或者未来几年预计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育的早期阶段来确定外骨骼是如何形成的。此外，该项目将探索藤壶生长在更温暖、酸性更强的水域时，形成过程是如何变化的。这项工作不仅将提供一种有趣的和潜在有用的材料的形成信息，而且还将提供一种经济上和生态上重要的生物将如何对预测的未来海洋条件作出反应的信息。除了这些基本知识之外，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。藤壶外骨骼是一种坚固的生物矿化组织，但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（例如脊椎动物骨骼，软体动物外壳）形成对比，这些组织具有有序的分层结构。该项目的目标是表征这种无序外骨骼形成的发育过程，以及环境条件对外骨骼材料的影响程度。第一个目标是确定在海洋环境条件下，从变质到完全矿化的一段时间内，藤壶外骨骼的组成、结构和材料特性。将通过多种技术（共聚焦显微镜、扫描电子显微镜、拉曼光谱、x射线光电电子显微镜、微压痕和纳米压痕）跟踪幼藤瓶从幼虫鲤开始的变态过程，从而确定某些材料特性（如断裂韧性）是否与无序结构有关。第二个目标是研究在pH值降低和温度升高的情况下，发育中的外骨骼的组成、结构和材料特性是如何表现的（用当前的气候变化预测模拟2100年预测的海洋条件）。这些实验的结果将对无序生物材料的功能提供深入的了解，同时也为生态和经济上重要的生物体是否会受到即将发生的环境变化的影响提供信息。除了从这些实验中获得重要的基础知识外，所提出的工作将对本科生和高中生产生更广泛的影响。在两位pi的指导下，本科研究人员将进行整个拟议的工作，不仅参与研究，还参与会议和稿件准备。为来自纽约代表性不足社区的高中生举办的讲习班将与“五号营”联合举办，讲习班将以拟议工作的结果为基础，使高中生参与科学研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。