IntBIO COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Deep Time, Development, and Design: Evolution of shark skin teeth from genotype to phenotype to prototype.

鲨鱼的皮肤在脊椎动物中是独一无二的，因为它含有牙齿状的鳞片，称为真皮小齿，形成坚硬的外部盔甲。这些牙齿状的小齿进化了数百万年，为鲨鱼提供了水动力皮肤，减少了在水中移动的成本。这种先进的流线型是目前非常感兴趣的主题，许多行业试图利用鲨鱼皮技术来创造更高效的游泳设计。该项目旨在提供对鲨鱼小齿的完整综合理解：它们是如何在鲨鱼胚胎中形成的，小齿的形状是如何在多年的进化中发生变化的，以及哪种小齿类型最适合减少阻力和进一步的设计进步。这些知识将有助于更好地利用鲨鱼皮技术制定先进的设计解决方案，帮助建设一个更美好、更环保的世界。例如，鲨鱼皮技术的一个可能用途是开发飞机或船只的表面结构，以减少运动过程中的阻力和减少燃料排放。除了其科学影响外，该项目还通过支持主要研究人员和受训者在广泛的职业阶段，并为跨学科研究中的残疾本科生提供独特的，急需的研究培训计划，对STEM劳动力产生了影响。鲨鱼的皮肤牙齿或小齿的形状和图案在数百万年的进化中不断完善，以改善其在水中运动的功能。该项目解决了进化和发展轨迹，导致了鲨鱼皮肤小齿类型的巨大多样性，目的是确定为什么鲨鱼在物种之间和物种内具有不同形状的小齿，以及这些不同的小齿形状可能为这些动物提供什么功能优势。从一个综合的发育、遗传和进化框架出发，该项目将研究小齿是如何发育的，以及是什么因素导致了形状的变化。该方法将包括从单细胞转录组学水平到表型和功能的胚胎小齿发育研究，以了解哪些关键基因对各种鲨鱼物种中各种小齿形状的产生至关重要，以及这些形状是如何通过发育创新实现的。目标包括了解在现代和灭绝物种中哪种形状最有效地减少阻力，以便对新的工程设计进行建模和测试，以减少空气和水载车辆和设备的阻力。将3D打印与工程方法相结合，新的鲨鱼启发的表面结构将用于为不断变化和更环保的世界创造设计解决方案的转变。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 skin of sharks is unique among vertebrate animals because it contains tooth-like scales, called dermal denticles, that create a hard external armor. These tooth-like denticles evolved over millions of years and equip the shark with hydrodynamic skin that reduces the cost of moving through the water. This advanced streamlining is currently a subject of great interest, with many industries attempting to take advantage of shark skin technology to create more efficient swimming designs. This project aims to provide a complete integrated understanding of shark denticles: how they form in embryonic sharks, how denticle shape has changed over years of evolution, and which denticle types are the best for drag-reduction and further design advances. This knowledge will enable better use of shark skin technology to make advanced design solutions that help to make a better and more environmentally friendly world. For example, one possible use of shark skin technology is the development of surface structures on airplanes or boats to reduce drag during movement and decrease fuel emissions. In addition to its scientific impact, this project has impact on the STEM workforce by supporting principal investigators and trainees across a wide range of career stages and by providing a unique, much-needed accessible research training program for undergraduates with disabilities in interdisciplinary research. The shape and pattern of shark skin teeth, or denticles, has been refined over millions of years of evolution for functional improvements in aquatic locomotion. This project addresses the evolutionary and developmental trajectories that have led to a vast diversity of shark skin denticle types with the goals of determining why sharks have different shaped denticles among and within species and what functional advantages these different denticle shapes might offer these animals. From an integrated developmental, genetic, and evolutionary framework, the project will investigate how denticles develop and what factors lead to changes in shape. The approach will include studies of embryonic denticle development from the level of single cell transcriptomics to phenotypes and function to learn what key genes are essential to the production of various denticle shapes in a range of shark species and how these shapes are achieved via developmental innovation. Goals include understanding what shapes are most efficient for drag-reduction in both modern and extinct species to enable modeling and testing of new engineering designs to reduce drag in air- and water-borne vehicles and devices. Combining 3D printing with engineering methods, new shark-inspired surface structures will be used to create a shift in design solutions for a changing and more environmentally friendly world.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.