Collaborative Research: EAGER: Non-Lethal Tools to Estimate the Ages and Lifespans of Chondrichthyan Fishes

该项目利用DNA测序技术开发了老化软骨动物(如鲨鱼、溜冰鞋和放射鱼)的新方法。在这样做的同时，它将促进这些物种的保护，其中许多物种是极度濒危的，以及我们对寿命和生活史高度可变的分类学群体中物种衰老过程的进化理解。生物衰老是生物体生命的基本组成部分。在我们对衰老过程中DNA变化的理解方面的最新进展正在产生新的工具来探索基因组变异性、生态动力学和生物体寿命之间的联系。所有脊椎动物寿命的这些变化，当与已知年龄的动物进行校准时，可以用来制造高度精确的“时钟”。这种时钟有可能为确定受保护物种的老龄化种群提供非致命性的方法，并且对具有不同寿命的相关物种的衰老进行比较研究可能会为生命历史进化的机制提供洞察力。此外，该项目将为本科生和博士后学者提供培训，并通过与佐治亚水族馆的合作吸引普通公众和当地公众。生命系统经历了以启动、生长和发育、繁殖、衰老和死亡为特征的生命历史阶段。生活史模式的进化驱动因素的大多数假说都围绕着这样一个想法：周期性的重置与缓慢但持续的新突变的引入相结合，通过重新洗牌(例如有性繁殖)，提供了确保在不断变化的环境中生存所必需的表型变异。如果这是正确的，那么在快速变化的环境中骑自行车的时间应该比在更恒定的环境中更短。该项目将使用新的分子和计算方法来测量软骨鱼的寿命，这些鱼的寿命和生活史差异很大，生活在从深海的相对恒定到温带和热带地区海面高度动态环境的环境中。这一奖项反映了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。

This project develop new methods for aging chondrichthyans (e.g., sharks, skates, and rays) using DNA sequencing technology. In doing so, it will advance both the conservation of these species, many of which are critically endangered, and our evolutionary understanding of the aging process across species in taxonomic groups with highly variable lifespans and life histories. Biological aging is a fundamental component of organismal life. Recent advances in our understanding of changes in DNA during aging are yielding novel tools to probe the linkages between genomic variability, ecological dynamics, and organismal lifespans. These changes over the lifespan of all vertebrates, when calibrated against animals of known age, can be used to create highly accurate “clocks.” Such clocks have the potential to provide non-lethal approaches for determining aging populations of species of conservation concern, and comparative studies of aging across related species with diverse lifespans are likely to provide insight into the mechanisms contributing to life history evolution. In addition, the project will provide training for both undergraduates and a postdoctoral scholar and engage the general and local public through association with the Georgia Aquarium.Living systems cycle through life-history stages characterized by initiation, growth and development, reproduction, senescence, and death. Most hypotheses of the evolutionary drivers of life-history patterns center around the idea that periodic resetting in conjunction with the slow, but constant, introduction of new mutations augmented by reshuffling (e.g., sexual reproduction), provides the phenotypic variability necessary to ensure survival in changing environments. If this is correct, cycling times should be shorter in rapidly changing environments than they are in more constant environments. This project will develop an epigenetic DNA methylation “clock” using novel molecular and computational approaches to measure life spans in chondrichthyan fishes that vary widely in their lifespans and life histories and that inhabit environments that range from the relative constancy of the deep sea to highly dynamic environments at the sea surface in temperate and tropical regions.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.