Environmental genomics of water conservation in a desert-adapted rodent

适应沙漠的啮齿动物水源保护的环境基因组学

• 批准号: 2283223
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2019 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2283223
• 关键词: Environmental; genomics; water; conservation; desert

We will explore the mechanisms that enable a desert adapted rodent species (the Lesser EgyptianJerboa) is able to survive in its harsh, arid environment without needing to drink water. Whilst waterbalance is aggressively defended in all terrestrial animals, this is all the more so in those species thatthrive in the desert. Water conservation is particularly vital for survival in the desert and, in the Jerboa,this is achieved through the production of a low volume of highly concentrated urine, especiallyfollowing dehydration. This is controlled by a hormone called arginine vasopressin (AVP), which ismade in a specialised part of the brain. AVP interacts with specific receptor targets located in thekidney to promote water reabsorption. We will carry out a detailed analysis of the brain and kidneymechanisms that enable the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa to survive in the desert. We will subject animalsto dehydration, then measure the expression of genes and proteins (particularly hormones) in thebrain and kidney. These data will then be subjected to mathematical analyses that will allow is toidentify genes that we think are key to the survival of the animal. These data will be compared toexisting datasets derived rodents living in more clement climates (rats and mice). Thus, these studieswill be of great interest to evolutionary and comparative biologists. Further, our studies may wellinterest environmentalists, ecologists and geographers, in the context of climate change anddesertification.

我们将探索使沙漠适应啮齿动物物种（小跳鼠）能够在其恶劣，干旱的环境中生存而不需要喝水的机制。虽然所有陆生动物都在积极地维护水平衡，但在沙漠中茁壮成长的物种中更是如此。水资源的保护对于沙漠中的生存尤其重要，在跳鼠中，这是通过产生少量的高浓度尿液来实现的，特别是在脱水之后。这是由一种叫做精氨酸加压素（AVP）的激素控制的，这种激素是在大脑的一个专门部位产生的。AVP与位于肾脏的特异性受体靶点相互作用，促进水的重吸收。我们将对小埃及跳鼠在沙漠中生存的大脑和肾脏机制进行详细分析。我们会让动物脱水，然后测量大脑和肾脏中基因和蛋白质（特别是激素）的表达。然后这些数据将经过数学分析，这将允许我们识别我们认为对动物生存至关重要的基因。这些数据将与现有的数据集进行比较，这些数据集来自生活在更恶劣气候下的啮齿动物（大鼠和小鼠）。因此，这些研究将引起进化和比较生物学家的极大兴趣。此外，在气候变化和荒漠化的背景下，我们的研究可能会引起环保主义者、生态学家和地理学家的兴趣。