Doctoral Dissertation Research: Doctoral Dissertation Research: Reconstructing metabolism and physiology through analysis of transition metal isotopes

博士论文研究： 博士论文研究：通过过渡金属同位素分析重建代谢和生理学

• 批准号: 2216033
• 负责人: Viktoria Oelze
• 金额: $ 2.47万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-03-15 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2216033&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Reconstructing; metabolism

Several different elements with specific chemical signatures, or isotopes, have been measured in bones of living and fossil species to help researchers reconstruct information regarding diet, migration, and reproduction. The measurement of stable isotopes of transition metals such as zinc, iron, and copper, could also be applied to the study of living or fossil primate bone to provide additional insight into these factors. This project measures transition metal isotopes in bone from primate individuals, and links them to information known from these individuals during life, to better understand how these markers might help reconstruct information about meat consumption and infant feeding patterns from fossilized bone. The results of this project also provide information about how individual- and sex-specific differences in metabolism influence these measurements. This is a multi-institutional collaborative project that includes mentoring of undergraduate students from groups underrepresented in STEM, community outreach, and presentations to local schools.This research has three main aims: 1) Are the breastfeeding and weaning patterns of primates recorded by δ66Zn values in enamel bioapatite and bone? 2) How does infrequent meat consumption affect the δ66Zn values measured in bioapatite? 3) Do sex- related differences in Fe and Cu fractionation occur in primates and does the degree of female reproductive investment affect these values? Analytic approaches include transition isotope analysis using mass spectrometry, and the application of a logistic regression with a machine learning algorithm to predict diet category (frugivorous/herbivorous or omnivorous/meat consuming) and trophic position of the samples. Transition metals (Zn, Fe, Cu) have the potential to be indicators of trophic position (δ66Zn), sex and reproductive state (δ56Fe and δ65Cu) in prehistoric and even fossil skeletal elements with poor organic preservation. This study aims to establish a reference dataset for nonhuman primates that serves as the first application of this technique in wild primates, with the potential to dramatically expand the use of transition metals in archaeological science.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.

在活体和化石物种的骨骼中测量了几种具有特定化学特征或同位素的不同元素，以帮助研究人员重建有关饮食、迁徙和繁殖的信息。过渡金属如锌、铁和铜的稳定同位素的测量也可以应用于对活的或化石的灵长类骨骼的研究，以提供对这些因素的更多了解。这个项目测量了灵长类个体骨骼中的过渡金属同位素，并将它们与这些个体在生命中已知的信息联系起来，以更好地了解这些标记如何有助于从骨骼化石中重建有关肉类消费和婴儿喂养模式的信息。该项目的结果还提供了有关新陈代谢的个体和性别差异如何影响这些测量的信息。这是一个多机构合作的项目，包括对STEM中代表性不足的本科生的指导，社区推广，以及向当地学校介绍。这项研究有三个主要目的：1)δ记录的灵长类哺乳和断奶模式在釉质生物磷灰石和骨中的值是多少？2)不频繁的肉类消费如何影响生物磷灰石中测量的δ66Z值？3)在灵长类动物中是否存在与性别有关的铁和铜分馏的差异，以及雌性生殖投资的程度是否影响这些值？分析方法包括使用质谱仪进行过渡同位素分析，以及应用Logistic回归和机器学习算法来预测样本的饮食类别(水果/草食或杂食性/肉类消费)和营养位置。在有机保存较差的史前甚至化石骨骼元素中，过渡金属(锌、铁、铜)有可能成为营养部位(δ66Zn)、性别和生殖状态(δ56Fe和δ65Cu)的指示物。这项研究旨在建立一个非人类灵长类动物的参考数据集，作为这项技术在野生灵长类动物中的首次应用，有可能极大地扩大过渡金属在考古科学中的使用。这一奖项反映了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。