Collaborative Research: Genetics and biomechanics of non-Newtonian prey capture adhesives across Panarthropoda

合作研究：泛节肢动物非牛顿猎物捕获粘合剂的遗传学和生物力学

• 批准号: 2113665
• 负责人: Mercedes Burns
• 金额: $ 22.51万
• 依托单位: University of Maryland Baltimore County
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2113665&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Genetics; biomechanics; non

Several groups of invertebrate species produce prey capture glues that are deposited on silks, secreted onto limbs, or squirted directly onto prey. These glues are materially unique in their drying times and reaction to humidity, but they are functionally similar in that they vary in viscosity based on applied forces and their rapid adhesion. The researchers will investigate the molecular and physical attributes of prey capture glues from 10 species in three distantly related groups - arachnids (spiders and opilionids), flies (predatory glow worms), and onychophorans (velvet worms). By understanding the differences in glue properties with respect to their molecular bases, a catalog of necessary components can be established for the design of new synthetic adhesives. This research will furthermore enhance participation of underrepresented minorities in field coursework, which research continues to demonstrate to be critically important to individuals choosing careers in ecology, evolution, and environmental sciences. The Highlands Biological Station (HBS) in Highlands, North Carolina, is an important resource for research in the Appalachian region and has hosted the two-week field class, “The Biology of Spiders,” for several decades. This class focuses on field identification, specimen collection, and preservation. With the twin goals of furthering positive public perception and interest in arachnids within the Appalachian region, and improving access to fieldwork opportunities for diverse student populations, the researchers will enhance the existing course by supporting student attendance via diversity-focused scholarships, new course material, and contributions to the HBS arachnid collection through student participation.Unlike materials with homologous origin that diversify under selective pressure, investigating convergently evolved prey capture glues from distantly related organisms offers a unique opportunity to explore the necessary and novel components for constructing these adhesives. This project will examine prey capture glues with the broad goals of understanding the contribution of their molecular components to function, and discovering the commonalities associated with functional, ecological, or morphological similarity. First, targeted transcriptomics, DNA sequencing, and glycosylation analyses will be employed to reconstruct the biomolecular organization of the glue from each species. This will be the first study to investigate the importance of glue gene length and repetitiveness for glue function, and the first comparison of posttranslational O-glycosylation modifications in a diversity of bioadhesives. Second, force transduction measurements during adhesive manipulation will allow documentation and analysis of the biomechanical properties of each glue. Combined with full-length sequences, direct inference will be made about the mechanical potential of glue sequence, including the role of repeat number and unit complexity in contributing to adhesive toughness and extensibility. Finally, we will reconstruct gene trees in order to evaluate support for parallel or convergent evolution of prey capture adhesives. Similar sequence identity will support the convergent strength of functional selection in the evolution of prey capture glue genes. Alternatively, poor sequence identity between glue transcripts indicates that a variety of biochemical mechanisms exist for prey adhesion, providing exciting novel pathways for biomimetic synthesis.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.

几组无脊椎动物物种产生猎物捕获胶，这些胶沉积在丝绸上、分泌到四肢上或直接喷射到猎物上。这些胶水在其干燥时间和对湿度的反应方面是独特的，但它们在功能上是相似的，因为它们的粘度基于施加的力和它们的快速粘附而变化。研究人员将调查三个远亲群体中10个物种的猎物捕获胶的分子和物理属性-蛛形纲动物（蜘蛛和opilionids），苍蝇（捕食性发光蠕虫）和onychophorans（天鹅绒蠕虫）。通过了解不同分子基础的胶水性能差异，可以为设计新的合成粘合剂建立必要的组件目录。这项研究将进一步提高代表性不足的少数民族参与实地课程，研究继续证明这是至关重要的个人选择在生态，进化和环境科学的职业生涯。位于北卡罗来纳州高地的高地生物站（HBS）是阿巴拉契亚地区研究的重要资源，几十年来一直举办为期两周的实地课程“蜘蛛生物学”。本课程着重于野外鉴定、标本采集和保存。为了进一步促进公众对阿巴拉契亚地区蛛形纲动物的积极看法和兴趣，并改善不同学生群体获得实地考察机会的双重目标，研究人员将通过支持学生出勤来加强现有课程。并通过学生参与对哈佛商学院的蛛形纲动物收藏做出贡献。与同源材料在选择压力下多样化不同，研究从远亲生物中趋同进化的猎物捕获胶提供了一个独特的机会，以探索构建这些粘合剂的必要和新的组分。该项目将研究猎物捕获胶，其广泛目标是了解其分子组分对功能的贡献，并发现与功能，生态或形态相似性相关的共性。首先，将采用靶向转录组学、DNA测序和糖基化分析来重建来自每个物种的胶的生物分子组织。这将是第一个研究胶水基因长度和重复性的重要性胶水功能，并在生物粘合剂的多样性翻译后O-糖基化修饰的第一个比较。其次，粘合剂操作过程中的力转换测量将允许记录和分析每种胶水的生物力学特性。结合全长序列，直接推断将作出关于胶序列的机械潜力，包括重复数和单元复杂性的作用，有助于粘合剂的韧性和延展性。最后，我们将重建基因树，以评估支持并行或收敛进化的猎物捕获粘合剂。相似的序列同一性将支持功能选择的收敛强度在猎物捕获胶基因的进化。或者，胶转录本之间的序列一致性差表明，存在各种生物化学机制的猎物粘附，提供令人兴奋的仿生合成的新途径。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

项目成果

The Geography of Sexual Conflict: A Synthetic Review

性冲突的地理学：综合评论

• DOI: 10.1086/722797
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: The American Naturalist
• 作者: Bacon, Ryan;Washington, Dante;Johnson, Maya-K;Burns, Mercedes
• 通讯作者: Burns, Mercedes