Visualizing Temperature: Physiology and Behaviour of Thermoregulation

动物热生理作为一种复杂的特性，涉及到热感觉的共同进化以及热耐受的生化机制。因此，体温不同的体温动物在感知温度的方式上应该表现出不同的功能。了解生物体如何调节它们的体温和使用随意的热选择是很重要的，因为这说明了它们对环境变化的反应潜力。我的实验室对这些问题采取了综合的方法，主要集中在脊椎动物(如鱼类、爬行动物)和研究保守的以及它们允许它们改变和调节体内体温的独特机制。我使用术语“可视化体温调节”作为未来5年的重点，以展示我们如何在研究中使用非侵入性成像技术之外的行为生理学。我的研究计划的最终目标是了解动物用来应对环境变化的体温调节策略，并最终了解人体的“恒温器”是如何进化的。我提议的研究的下一个五年的目标将考察三个主要的“驱动因素”(内部/中枢驱动因素、外围/感觉驱动因素以及进化和生态驱动因素)。第一个目标将通过检查改变的体温调节状态的生理学相关性来检查动物中结核病的控制。这将主要涉及在我们开发的鱼类模型(溪流、斑马鱼、圆形虎鱼)上进行实验，并使用药物阻断来破译在行为体温调节中发挥作用的拟议途径。我们还将关注红树林小溪是如何适应陆地生活的，它们是如何采用迄今为止水生同类所没有的新的体温调节策略的。第二个目标将研究与体温调节相关的外围机制。我们将通过对具有不同体温调节偏好的动物的比较分析，研究体温和体温调节的机制，并确定它们在体温调节行为中的作用。我们将继续研究爬行动物的水平衡和体温调节之间的权衡，通过检测无鳞的胡须龙的表型，以及这对热行为和水平衡的影响。第三个目标是将我们从实验室获得的知识应用于现场，特别是在濒危或受威胁物种方面，以便将我们的专业知识转化和应用于相关和紧迫的生物学问题。我们计划引入非侵入性方法来研究蜥蜴和乌龟在野外的外周血管运动，作为实地体温调节研究的一部分。这将涉及使用在潜水海豹中开发的新型记录技术(NIRS)来检查外围结构中的血液氧合变化。

As a complex trait, animal thermal physiology involves the co-evolution of thermal sensation along with biochemical mechanisms of thermal tolerance. Therefore, ectothermic animals with different body temperatures should show functional differences in how they sense temperature. Understanding how organisms regulate their body temperature and use volitional thermal choices is important since it illustrates their potential to respond to changes in the environment. My laboratory takes an integrative approach to these questions, focusing primarily on vertebrate ectotherms (e.g., fish, reptiles) and studying conserved as well as their unique mechanisms that allow them to modify and regulate their internal body temperature. I employ the term "visualizing thermoregulation" as a focus for the next 5 years to demonstrate how we use behavioural physiology in addition to non-invasive imaging technologies in our research. The ultimate goal of my research program is to understand the thermoregulatory strategies that animals use to cope with environmental changes, and ultimately, to understand the how the body's `thermostat' has evolved. The objectives of the next five years of my proposed research will examine the 3 primary "drivers" (internal / central drivers, peripheral / sensory drivers, and the evolutionary and ecological drivers). The first objective will examine the control of Tb in animals by examining the physiological relevance of altered thermoregulatory states. This will involve experiments primarily in fish models we have developed (rivulus, zebrafish, round gobies), and the use of pharmacological blockade to decipher proposed pathways that play a role in behavioural thermoregulation. We will also focus on how the mangrove rivulus have adapted to their life on land, how they have adopted a novel thermoregulatory strategy hitherto unavailable to aquatic counterparts. The second objective will examine the peripheral mechanisms related to thermoregulation. We will examine mechanisms of warm and cold thermosensation and establish their roles in thermoregulatory behaviours through a comparative analysis of animals with different thermoregulatory preferences. We will continue our research into the trade-offs between water balance and thermoregulation in reptiles, by examining scaleless phenotypes of bearded dragons and the impact this has on thermal behaviour and water balance. The third objective will adapt our knowledge from the lab into field applications, especially in endangered or threatened species, so as to translate and apply our expertise to pertinent and urgent biological questions. We plan to incorporate non-invasive approaches to study peripheral vasomotion in the field in lizards and tortoises as part of a study examining thermoregulation in the field. This will involve the use of novel logging technology (NIRS) developed in diving seals to examine blood oxygenation changes in peripheral structures.