EAGER: Evaluation and implementation of a newly developed olfactometer for the study of sensory ecology in small marine organisms

EAGER：评估和实施新开发的嗅觉计，用于研究小型海洋生物的感官生态学

• 批准号: 2310259
• 负责人: Paul Sikkel
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Miami
• 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: 2023-02-01 至 2025-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2310259&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Evaluation; implementation; newly; developed

Chemical cues play critical roles in the life of marine organisms and influence essential behaviors such as finding habitat, food, and mates, and avoiding predators. Research on the role of chemicals in the behavior of animals in the ocean has focused mostly on a small number of organisms, primarily larger, “charismatic” organisms, leaving most species completely ignored. Small organisms are by far the most abundant and diverse and have major ecological importance. The so-called “smaller majority” even includes larval or juvenile forms of some larger species. Yet, their small size has left them particularly neglected. Despite decades of research on the importance of chemicals in the behavior of marine organisms, the sophistication of testing apparatus for small marine organisms in particular has changed little and lags far behind systems used for similar studies on insects. The traditional “set up” for marine studies involves using a two-choice channel flume, which provides a variety of limitations and areas of potential bias. In insect studies, the use of airflow “olfactometers” has eliminated many of these limitations. However, adapting these devices for use on marine organisms is complicated because of the unique properties of water compared to air. We have assembled a team of experts in the fields of hydraulic engineering, sensory biology, and marine biology to develop a device like those used for insect studies that can be used on marine organisms. The goal of this project is to test this new device, which stands to fundamentally change the way we study the behavioral response of marine organisms to chemicals.This project aims to validate a newly adapted olfactometer for use in research on behavioral responses to chemicals in small, aquatic organisms. Testing of the olfactometer will be conducted at the University of Texas’s Marine Science Institute, and the Keys Marine Laboratory, both of which provide modern marine research facilities and easy access to test organisms. Three organisms will be used to validate the olfactometer. These include Daphina spp., fish-parasitic gnathiid isopods, and juvenile stages of scleractinlan (stony) corals. All of these can be easily obtained and data on important chemical cues is already available for them. All organisms will be exposed to a test chemical within the olfactometer, and their behavior observed. The movement of the organism within the olfactometer will be recorded and analyzed using Ethovision XT software, allowing for a high volume of data to be collected, including data indicating attraction or avoidance of chemical stimuli. This research will help place marine researchers on a level playing field with terrestrial researchers by upgrading the toolkit for studies on the response to chemicals by small organisms in an ever-changing oceanThis 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.

化学线索在海洋生物的生活中起着至关重要的作用，并影响基本行为，如寻找栖息地，食物和配偶，以及避免捕食者。关于化学物质在海洋动物行为中的作用的研究主要集中在少数生物体上，主要是较大的“魅力”生物体，而大多数物种完全被忽视。小型生物是迄今为止数量最多、种类最多的生物，具有重要的生态意义。所谓的“较小多数”甚至包括一些较大物种的幼虫或幼年形式。然而，他们的小规模使他们特别被忽视。尽管几十年来一直在研究化学物质对海洋生物行为的重要性，但用于小型海洋生物的测试仪器的复杂性变化不大，远远落后于用于昆虫类似研究的系统。海洋研究的传统“设置”涉及使用双选择通道水槽，这提供了各种限制和潜在的偏见领域。在昆虫研究中，气流“嗅觉计”的使用消除了许多这些限制。然而，由于水与空气相比的独特性质，使这些装置适用于海洋生物是复杂的。我们召集了一个水利工程、感官生物学和海洋生物学领域的专家团队，开发一种类似于昆虫研究的设备，可用于海洋生物。该项目的目标是测试这种新设备，它将从根本上改变我们研究海洋生物对化学品的行为反应的方式。该项目旨在验证一种新改装的嗅觉仪，用于研究小型水生生物对化学品的行为反应。嗅觉仪的测试将在得克萨斯大学海洋科学研究所和Keys海洋实验室进行，这两个实验室都提供现代化的海洋研究设施，并易于获得测试生物。将使用三种微生物来验证嗅觉计。这些包括蚤属，鱼类寄生的颚类等足类动物和硬珊瑚（石珊瑚）的幼年阶段。所有这些都可以很容易地获得，关于重要化学线索的数据也已经提供。将所有生物体暴露于嗅觉计内的测试化学品，并观察其行为。使用动物运动轨迹跟踪系统XT软件记录和分析嗅觉计内生物体的运动，以收集大量数据，包括指示化学刺激的吸引或回避的数据。这项研究将有助于海洋研究人员与陆地研究人员在一个公平的竞争环境中升级的工具包，研究小生物在不断变化的海洋中对化学品的反应这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。