The evolution of metabolic adaptation to environmental change

代谢适应环境变化的进化

• 批准号: 2744565
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Nottingham
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2744565
• 关键词: evolution; metabolic; adaptation; environmental; change

The ecological and evolutionary transitions that accompany environmental change often involve alterations in diet and accompanying morphological adaptations. These changes are abundantly well researched and understood. Surprisingly, the genetically encoded metabolic modifications requiredto deal with dietary change are largely unknown in wild species, despite the fundamental importance of energetics for organismal function and the potential value of such knowledge to agriculture and aquaculture (Tocher 2010 Aquaculture Res.). The major transition from salt- to freshwater effected by numerous fish species demands many evolutionary adaptations, most obviously in osmoregulation. Less well known is that fatty acids,which are a critical dietary resource for all vertebrates, both as organic constituents and sources of metabolic energy, are much less available in freshwater than in marine systems. The ecological importance of variation in fatty acid availability and metabolism is only just being realised (Twininget al. 2021 Ecol.Lett.). Colonisation of freshwater by Pacific stickleback is facilitated in lineages that possess duplications of a gene, Fads2, involved in the synthesis of essential -3 fatty acids (Ishikawa et al. 2019 Science). Despite strong evidence that Atlantic stickleback lineages also vary in their ability to colonise freshwater (Dean et al. 2019 Mol.Biol.Evol.), little is known about the occurrence of this duplication in the Atlantic. More generally, little is known about the network of metabolic changes required to deal with restriction of fatty acid availability, despite several promising genetic candidates being known in stickleback.This project will quantify the consequences of dietary fatty acid restriction in Atlantic stickleback and investigate how fatty acid metabolism depends on a number of key evolutionary, genetic changes. This will improve our understanding of how organisms deal with the energetic consequences of environmental change through alterations in metabolism.

伴随环境变化的生态和进化转变通常涉及饮食的改变和伴随的形态适应。这些变化已得到充分研究和理解。令人惊讶的是，尽管能量学对于有机体功能至关重要以及此类知识对农业和水产养殖业的潜在价值，但应对饮食变化所需的基因编码代谢修饰在野生物种中很大程度上是未知的（Tocher 2010 Aquaculture Res.）。众多鱼类从咸水向淡水的主要转变需要许多进化适应，最明显的是渗透调节。不太为人所知的是，脂肪酸是所有脊椎动物的重要膳食资源，既作为有机成分，又作为代谢能量的来源，但在淡水中的可用量远低于在海洋系统中。脂肪酸可用性和代谢变化的生态重要性才刚刚被认识到（Twininget al. 2021 Ecol.Lett.）。太平洋刺鱼在淡水中的定植得益于具有 Fads2 基因复制的谱系，该基因参与必需 -3 脂肪酸的合成（Ishikawa 等人，2019 Science）。尽管有强有力的证据表明大西洋刺鱼谱系在淡水中定殖的能力也有所不同（Dean et al. 2019 Mol.Biol.Evol.），但人们对大西洋中这种重复的发生知之甚少。更一般地说，尽管在刺鱼中已知有几种有希望的遗传候选物，但人们对应对脂肪酸可用性限制所需的代谢变化网络知之甚少。该项目将量化大西洋刺鱼饮食脂肪酸限制的后果，并研究脂肪酸代谢如何依赖于一些关键的进化、遗传变化。这将提高我们对生物体如何通过新陈代谢的改变来应对环境变化的能量后果的理解。