Biochemical tracers in freshwater ecosystems

淡水生态系统中的生化示踪剂

• 批准号: 227463-2011
• 负责人: Arts, Michael
• 金额: $ 1.89万
• 依托单位: University of Windsor
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2011-01-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=478482
• 关键词: Biochemical; tracers; freshwater; ecosystems

Lipids, including fatty acids, are sensitive indicators of stress that respond, in predictable ways, to changes in the environment. Some fatty acids are critical to the maintenance of optimal physiological performance in all animals including humans. Those fatty acids are called essential fatty acids (EFAs). In mammals EFAs are known to be important in the maintenance of cardiovascular and neural health. In invertebrates and fish they are known to promote normal development, growth and reproduction. EFAs are primarily produced in aquatic ecosystems and from there are transferred to terrestrial ecosystems via a variety of mechanisms (predation, insect emergence, shore drift etc). Therefore it is critically important to understand global threats to their production and distribution within aquatic ecosystems and between aquatic ecosystems and neighboring terrestrial ecosystems. Three large-scale stressors that have the potential to impact the production of EFAs at the base of the food chain (i.e. in algae). These include; climate change, exotic invaders and eutrophication. Another special feature of fatty acids is their ability to act as biomarkers (compounds that are passed, unchanged, from one organism to another through the processes of herbivory or predation). This project is targetted towards; a) a detailed examination, in the laboratory, of the effects of climate change (temperature increases) on the production of EFAs in algae including their transfer to zooplankton (herbivores), b) refining and developing new biochemical tracers that will allow researchers to track the flow of carbon associated with exotic invaders (zebra mussels) throughout the aquatic food web and thus gain a deeper understanding of the full scale of exotic invader impacts, and, c) showcase how EFAs, produced in algae, are retained, through time, in selected regions in the the brains of mice as they age. A more thorough understanding of the global threats to EFA production and how this may affect their transfer to terrestrial organisms will provide us with a new and powerful incentive to conserve our unique and precious freshwater ecosystems.

脂质，包括脂肪酸，是压力的敏感指标，以可预测的方式对环境的变化做出反应。 一些脂肪酸对于维持包括人类在内的所有动物的最佳生理性能至关重要。 这些脂肪酸被称为必需脂肪酸（EFA）。 在哺乳动物中，已知EFA在维持心血管和神经健康方面是重要的。 在无脊椎动物和鱼类中，已知它们促进正常发育，生长和繁殖。 EFA主要产生于水生生态系统，并通过各种机制（捕食、昆虫羽化、海岸漂移等）从水生生态系统转移到陆地生态系统。 因此，了解其在水生生态系统内以及水生生态系统与邻近陆地生态系统之间的生产和分布所面临的全球威胁至关重要。 三个大规模的压力源，有可能影响在食物链的基础（即藻类）的EFA的生产。 这些包括;气候变化，外来入侵者和富营养化。 脂肪酸的另一个特殊功能是它们作为生物标志物的能力（通过食草动物或捕食过程从一个生物体传递到另一个生物体的化合物）。 该项目的目标是：a）在实验室中详细研究气候变化的影响（温度升高）对藻类中EFA产生的影响，包括其向浮游动物的转移（食草动物），B）改进和开发新的生物化学示踪剂，使研究人员能够追踪与外来入侵者有关的碳的流动（斑马贻贝）在整个水生食物网中的作用，从而更深入地了解外来入侵者的全面影响，以及c）展示藻类中产生的EFA如何随着时间的推移保留在小鼠大脑中的选定区域中。更透彻地了解全球对全民教育生产的威胁以及这种威胁如何影响这些威胁向陆地生物的转移，将为我们保护我们独特而宝贵的淡水生态系统提供新的强大动力。