NSF PRFB FY 2023: Assessing morphological, behavioral, and genetic impacts of methylmercury on spiders.

这一行动为NSF 2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。具体地说，这项研究将评估一种全球关注的污染物--甲基汞(MeHg)对蜘蛛的影响。了解甲基汞的累积及其对生物体的毒性影响对于准确评估甲基汞污染的风险非常重要。蜘蛛通过食用被甲基汞污染的猎物而暴露在甲基汞中，最近被提议作为监测环境中甲基汞的工具；被称为“哨兵”：在其组织中积累污染物而不会产生重大不利影响的有机体。然而，关于甲基汞对蜘蛛或其他无脊椎动物的毒性知之甚少。该项目的目标是调查甲基汞对蜘蛛行为、生长、繁殖和基因表达的亚致命影响。这项拟议的研究将促进对环境甲基汞污染对个体蜘蛛影响的科学理解，并预测对暴露于甲基汞的蜘蛛群落、其他无脊椎动物和生态系统的影响。该研究计划将直接涉及来自代表性不足社区的本科生和高中生，旨在通过实践研究经验、技能发展和一对一指导来增强学生追求科学职业的能力。甲基汞对蜘蛛的亚致死效应将通过一系列实验室喂养实验(短期、长期和多代饮食暴露)和实地研究从甲基汞污染较高和较低的地点采集蜘蛛样本来测试。假设暴露在甲基汞下的蜘蛛表现出1)身体、行为和基因表达的影响，2)暴露时间、蜘蛛分类群和蜘蛛生活阶段的不同影响，3)对生殖、生长和发育的多代影响。亚致死效应的测量将包括多个物理和行为终点(例如，身体状况、猎物捕获、成熟时的大小和产卵)，以及通过对蜘蛛RNA进行测序(差异表达基因的转录组分析)确定的基因表达。这位研究员的培训将包括转录组测序和数据分析，特别是识别和表征与甲基汞不良反应相关的基因的方法。除了深入了解甲基汞对蜘蛛的毒性机制外，该项目还将有助于蜘蛛的基因组和转录学知识，并为未来污染物毒理学以外的研究提供信息。这项研究将通过计划的利用蜘蛛研究环境污染物的推广计划和教育产品惠及更广泛的公众。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。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment, and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Specifically, this research will assess the effects of a contaminant of global concern, Methylmercury (MeHg), on spiders. It is important to understand MeHg accumulation and its toxic effects on organisms to accurately assess risks of MeHg contamination. Spiders are exposed to MeHg by consuming MeHg-contaminated prey and recently were proposed as tools for monitoring MeHg in the environment; called “sentinels”: organisms that accumulate a pollutant in their tissues without significant adverse effects. However, little is known about MeHg toxicity in spiders or other invertebrates. This project’s goal is to investigate sub-lethal effects of MeHg on spiders behavior, growth, reproduction, and gene expression. The proposed study will advance scientific understanding about the impact of environmental MeHg contamination on individual spiders and predict effects on spider communities, other invertebrates, and ecosystems exposed to MeHg. The research program will directly involve undergraduate and high school students from underrepresented communities and is designed to empower students to pursue scientific careers through hands-on research experiences, skills development, and one-on-one mentorship. Sub-lethal effects of MeHg on spiders will be tested through a series of laboratory feeding experiments (short-term, long-term, and multigenerational dietary exposures), and field studies sampling spiders from locations with high and low MeHg contamination. Spiders exposed to MeHg are hypothesized to show 1) physical, behavioral, and gene expression effects, 2) different effects by exposure duration, spider taxa, and spider life stage, and 3) multigenerational effects on reproduction, growth, and development. Measurements of sub-lethal effects will include multiple physical and behavioral endpoints (e.g., body condition, prey capture, size at maturity, and egg production), and gene expression determined by sequencing spider RNA (transcriptome analysis for differentially expressed genes). The fellow’s training will include transcriptome sequencing and data analysis, specifically, methods to identify and characterize genes associated with adverse effects of MeHg. In addition to insights into the mechanisms of MeHg toxicity in spiders, this project will contribute to genomic and transcriptomic knowledge about spiders and inform future studies outside of contaminant toxicology. This research will benefit the broader public through planned outreach programs and educational products around using spiders to studying environmental contaminants.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.