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

这项行动资助了2023财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，综合研究调查了基因组，环境和表型之间的生命管理相互作用的规则。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。具体来说，这项研究将评估全球关注的污染物甲基汞（MeHg）对蜘蛛的影响。了解甲基汞的积累及其对生物体的毒性影响，对准确评估甲基汞污染风险十分重要。蜘蛛通过食用受甲基汞污染的猎物而接触到甲基汞，最近有人提议将其作为监测环境中甲基汞的工具;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生物。然而，人们对蜘蛛或其他无脊椎动物体内的甲基汞毒性知之甚少。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死效应。拟议的研究将促进科学认识环境甲基汞污染对个体蜘蛛的影响，并预测对蜘蛛群落、其他无脊椎动物和接触甲基汞的生态系统的影响。该研究计划将直接涉及来自代表性不足的社区的本科生和高中生，旨在使学生能够通过实践研究经验，技能发展和一对一的指导来追求科学事业。将通过一系列实验室饲养实验（短期、长期和多代饮食接触）以及从甲基汞污染程度高和低的地点对蜘蛛进行实地取样研究，测试甲基汞对蜘蛛的亚致死效应。据推测，接触甲基汞的蜘蛛表现出：1）身体、行为和基因表达影响; 2）接触时间、蜘蛛类群和蜘蛛生命阶段的不同影响; 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、成熟时的大小和产蛋量），以及通过对蜘蛛RNA测序（差异表达基因的转录组分析）确定的基因表达。该研究员的培训将包括转录组测序和数据分析，特别是确定和描述与甲基汞不利影响有关的基因的方法。除了深入了解蜘蛛中甲基汞毒性的机制外，该项目还将有助于了解蜘蛛的基因组和转录组学知识，并为污染物毒理学以外的未来研究提供信息。这项研究将通过计划的外展计划和教育产品使更广泛的公众受益，这些计划和教育产品围绕使用蜘蛛研究环境污染物。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.