Real time PCR machine

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Canadian aquatic environments are highly variable. Temperature, salinity, carbon dioxide and oxygen levels all 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. Two critical steps that are required to perform this research are to determine the genotype of the animal and to assess its phenotype at the molecular level through the analysis of gene expression (the extent to which genes are turned on or off). Both of these types of analyses can be performed using a real-time PCR machine, the instrument that we are requesting. This instrument will be used by a large number of scientists at UBC, including trainees at all levels including undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. Thus, this instrument will provide invaluable training in an important technique in molecular biology for a wide range of students, as well as enabling research that is both of fundamental and practical importance.