Mitochondrial plasticity: a coping strategy in a warming world?

线粒体可塑性：变暖世界的应对策略？

• 批准号: EP/Y030184/1
• 负责人: Francisco Ruiz-Raya
• 金额: $ 23.84万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY030184%2F1
• 关键词: Mitochondrial; plasticity; coping; strategy; warming

Our world is changing rapidly, on a global scale, and some organisms are inhabiting environments that differ greatly from those in which they evolved. Climate change is predicted to result in increases in average land and water temperatures, but also more frequent temperature fluctuations. Understanding how organisms cope with these unprecedented environmental changes, as well as the timescale that they need to adjust to changing conditions, is a key priority of biological research. For ectothermic animals (i.e. all except mammals and birds), rising body temperatures cause faster depletion of energy reserves unless/until they can down-regulatemetabolism through adjusting the functioning of their mitochondria. However, the scope for flexibility in mitochondrial function, and the time required, are unknown - so we cannot know the true costs to animals of temperature fluctuations and hence their capacity to cope with climate change. I will employ cutting-edge laboratory methods to provide the first information on this topic, testing the effect of realistic environmental perturbations on mitochondrial function in a widely distributed teleost fish. My Objectives are to: 1) Identify the timescales over which mitochondrial function is regulated in response to changing thermal conditions; 2) Test for an age-related decline in the capacity of mitochondria to adjust to temperature fluctuations, so that older animals are more vulnerable to heat waves; 3) Determine whether older mothers pass on mitochondria with a reduced capacity to adjust to fluctuations in environmental temperature to their offspring. This highly original and interdisciplinary project will draw from, and expand upon, the combined research track-records and strengths of my work in ecology and ecophysiology, with that of hosts Prof. Neil Metcalfe (fish ecology, mitochondrial metabolism) and Prof. Pat Monaghan (senescence and intergenerational transfer of ageing) to achieve my future research career goals.

我们的世界正在全球范围内迅速变化，一些生物体所处的环境与其进化时的环境截然不同。预计气候变化将导致平均陆地温度和水温上升，但也会导致更频繁的温度波动。了解生物体如何应对这些前所未有的环境变化，以及它们需要适应不断变化的条件的时间尺度，是生物学研究的首要任务。对于变温动物（即除哺乳动物和鸟类之外的所有动物）来说，体温升高会导致能量储备更快耗尽，除非/直到它们可以通过调整线粒体的功能来下调代谢。然而，线粒体功能的灵活性范围以及所需的时间尚不清楚，因此我们无法知道温度波动给动物带来的真正成本，以及它们应对气候变化的能力。我将采用尖端的实验室方法来提供有关该主题的第一个信息，测试现实环境扰动对广泛分布的硬骨鱼线粒体功能的影响。我的目标是：1）确定线粒体功能响应不断变化的热条件而受到调节的时间尺度； 2）测试与年龄相关的线粒体适应温度波动的能力下降，因此老年动物更容易受到热浪的影响； 3) 确定高龄母亲是否会将线粒体适应环境温度波动的能力降低传给后代。这个高度原创和跨学科的项目将借鉴并扩展我在生态学和生态生理学方面的综合研究记录和优势，以及主持人尼尔·梅特卡夫教授（鱼类生态学、线粒体代谢）和帕特·莫纳汉教授（衰老和衰老的代际转移）的研究成果，以实现我未来的研究职业目标。