Temperature-adaptive behavior mediated by inter-kingdom lipid exchange

在这个项目中，研究人员将研究季节性温度变化期间动物行为和微生物代谢之间的协同作用。动物，包括人类，依赖于饮食中它们无法合成的基本化学成分的摄取。多不饱和脂肪酸(PUFAs)是一类必需的膳食脂肪，在低温下对细胞膜结构和中枢神经系统起重要作用。变温动物(不独立调节体温的冷血动物)的低温适应，以及更广泛的动物的神经功能，取决于寻找富含多不饱和脂肪酸的食物来源的能力。该项目的研究将使用果蝇和它们的食用菌作为模型系统，以了解动物饲养策略和微生物脂肪生物合成是如何共同进化来满足生理需求的。通过其研究目标，该项目将1)确定其相互作用在农业和生物技术中很重要的一对生物体的生理基础的分子机制，2)阐明基于饮食的动物-微生物相互作用的一般原理，以及3)增加对动物生理和行为中的一个关键脂质类别的功能理解。通过其教育目标，该项目将促进未被充分代表的群体的学生参与生物科学。该项目的目标是结合行为、遗传和生化方法，在果蝇和多种酵母物种中探索微生物-动物脂肪交换的机制和结果。多不饱和脂肪酸(PUFA)生物合成基因在许多真菌谱系中已经丢失，因此苍蝇必须寻找特定的酵母物种才能获得这些脂类。反过来，酵母是不能移动的，依赖于吸引昆虫在新的环境中定居。在初步工作中，已发现天然果蝇种群与不同酵母种类之间的关联取决于温度和酵母多不饱和脂肪酸的代谢。它还被证实，以酵母为基础的实验室饲料中多不饱和脂肪酸的生物合成决定了苍蝇在寒冷中的活动和其他与季节相关的行为。该项目将首先发现脂肪酸决定苍蝇对寒冷温度反应的信号通路。然后，它将调查苍蝇如何做出觅食决定，以使用与酵母发酵共同进化的基于嗅觉的通信来优化它们的脂体。最后，该项目将开发新的实验系统，剖析苍蝇特定组织和细胞类型中多不饱和脂肪酸所决定的行为表型和生理功能。同时，该项目将通过培训项目支持研究，这些培训项目整合了动物生理学和生物物理学的概念。该项目由行为系统集群和综合组织系统部门的综合生态生理学项目共同资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In this project, the researcher will investigate synergistic interactions between animal behavior and microbial metabolism during seasonal changes in temperature. Animals, including humans, rely on the dietary intake of essential chemical building blocks that they cannot synthesize. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are a class of essential dietary lipids that are important for cell membrane structure at low temperatures and in the central nervous system. Cold temperature adaptation in poikilotherms (‘cold blooded’ animals that do not independently regulate their body temperature), and neurological function in animals more broadly, depends on an ability to forage for PUFA-enriched food sources. The project’s research will use fruit flies and their dietary fungi as a model system to understand how animal feeding strategies and microbial lipid biosynthesis have co-evolved to meet physiological needs. Through its research aims, the project will 1) identify molecular mechanisms underlying the physiology of a pair of organisms whose interactions are important in agriculture and biotechnology 2) elucidate general principles of animal-microbial interactions based on diet and 3) increase functional understanding of a key lipid class in animal physiology and behavior. Through its education aim, the project will promote participation in the biological sciences by students in underrepresented groups.To goal of this project is to explore the mechanisms and consequences of microbial-animal lipid exchange using a combination of behavioral, genetic, and biochemical approaches in both Drosophila melanogaster and multiple yeast species. Polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biosynthetic genes have been lost in many fungal lineages, so flies must forage for specific yeast species to access these lipids. Yeast, in turn, are immobile and rely on attracting insects to colonize new environments. In preliminary work, the association between a natural fruit fly population and different yeast species has been found to be dependent on temperature and yeast PUFA metabolism. It has also been established that PUFA biosynthesis in a yeast-based laboratory diet dictates the activity of flies in the cold and other seasonally relevant behaviors. The project will first uncover the signaling pathways by which fatty acids dictate fly behavior in response to cold temperatures. It will then investigate how flies make foraging decisions to optimize their lipidome using olfaction-based communication that has co-evolved alongside yeast fermentation. Finally, the project will develop new experimental systems to dissect behavioral phenotypes and physiological functions dictated by PUFAs in specific tissue and cell types in the fly. In parallel, the project will support research through training programs that integrate concepts across animal physiology and biophysics. This project is jointly funded by the Behavioral System Cluster and the Integrative Ecological Physiology Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems.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.