-80C freezers for sample storage and archiving

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Canadian aquatic environments are highly variable. Temperature, salinity and oxygen levels vary both in space (from one place to another) and in time (at scales from hours, to days, and across seasons). The research to be supported by this proposal seeks to understand how fish cope with this environmental variation. In particular, we aim to understand how genetic differences among species or among individuals within a species are translated into differences in the ability to tolerate environmental change. Thus this research addresses one of the most fundamental challenges facing biologists today: developing an understanding of the links between genetic variation and phenotypic variation (or variation in the observable characteristics of organisms). As well as providing fundamental insights, this research also has considerable practical applications in aquaculture and fisheries. In aquaculture, understanding the genes that contribute to variation in the response to the environment can help fish farmers to select the best animals to use as stock in their farms. In fisheries, it may help identify individuals or populations that are particularly sensitive to, or resilient in the face of, environmental stress, which may be helpful in stocking or mitigation programs. In order to perform this research, we must determine the phenotypes of large numbers of individual animals, and then the characteristics of these animals must be assessed at a biochemical, molecular and genetic level. These analyses require that tissue samples be stored at very low temperatures (-80C) to preserve their biological integrity before analysis. This proposal requests two -80C freezers to store these samples.