Postdoctoral Fellowship: OPP-PRF: Identifying Central and Peripheral Thermosensors in Eurythermal and Stenothermal Arctic Fishes

北冰洋的变暖速度是全球平均速度的七倍，危及并改变了主要的生计和商业渔业。鱼类种群受到气候变暖以及海洋酸化和氧化的双重压力。本研究旨在描述北极和亚北极三种鱼类：北极鳕鱼（Boreogadus saida）、藏红花鳕鱼（Eleginus gracilis）和大西洋鳕鱼（Gadus morhua）感官系统中整合变暖、pH变化和氧化信号的蛋白质的进化。研究这些感觉机制的进化有助于深入了解鱼类对气候变化的敏感性和反应。这项工作对理解人类蛋白质诱导的疼痛、炎症和瘙痒反应也有意义。在这项研究的过程中，两名来自代表性不足的科学群体的本科生将通过暑期研究项目接受指导。将制定K-12课程计划，将该项目的见解与阿拉斯加本土科学课程和价值观以及下一代科学标准相结合。这项工作的一个主要目标是生成高质量的基因组和转录组数据，包括低温和低温北极鱼类物种，以及中枢热感觉神经组织、外周热感觉神经组织、非热感觉神经组织和非神经体细胞组织。这些数据将使用第三代（IsoSeq）和第二代（RNASeq）测序技术组合生成，并用于表征瞬时受体电位（TRP）通道序列和表达模式。TRP通道谱将使用调控和结构进化的硅测试进行比较，包括使用AlphaFold2预测蛋白质结构。这些特征将在物种、组织和低温南极鱼类之间进行比较，以研究鱼类温度感觉的中心和外围机制以及对寒冷的趋同适应。这项工作是对任何北极物种的分子热传感蛋白进化的第一次调查，也是第一次以鱼类中枢神经系统的热感觉机制为目标。Boreogadus说，该项目探索了关键哨兵物种气候适应的生理机制，并通过生成北极鳕鱼的首个长读基因组，扩大了极地科学界的测序资源。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

The Arctic Ocean is warming at a rate up to seven times the global average, endangering and shifting key subsistence and commercial fisheries. Fish populations are stressed by warming and simultaneously by ocean acidification and oxidation. This study aims to characterize the evolution of proteins that integrate signals of warming, changing pH, and oxidation in the sensory systems of three species of Arctic and sub-Arctic fish: the Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis), and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Studying the evolution of these sensory mechanisms provides insight into the sensitivity and responses of fish to climate change. This work also has implications for understanding protein-induced pain, inflammation, and itch responses in humans. During the course of this research, two undergraduates from underrepresented groups in science will be mentored through a summer research program. A K-12 lesson plan will be developed that combines the insights from this project with Alaska Native science curricula and values and Next Generation Science Standards. A major goal of this work is to generate high-quality genomic and transcriptomic data across stenothermal and eurythermal Arctic fish species, but also across central thermosensory nervous tissue, peripheral thermosensory nervous tissue, non-thermosensory nervous tissue, and non-nervous somatic tissue. These data will be generated using a combination of 3rd (IsoSeq) and 2nd (RNASeq) generation sequencing technologies and be used to characterize transient receptor potential (TRP) channel sequences and expression patterns. TRP channel profiles will be compared using in silico tests of regulatory and structural evolution, including predicting protein structure using AlphaFold2. These profiles will be compared between species, tissues, and to stenothermal Antarctic fishes to investigate central and peripheral mechanisms of temperature sensation in fishes and convergent adaptation to cold. This work is the first investigation into the evolution of molecular thermosensor proteins in any Arctic species and the first to target mechanisms of thermosensation in the central nervous system of fishes. This project explores physiological mechanisms of climate adaptation in key sentinel species and expands the sequencing resources of the polar science community by generating the first long-read genome for Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida.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.