长爪沙鼠能量和水代谢特征的地理差异

动物生理功能适应性的地理差异对于理解其地理分布范围具有重要意义。大尺度生理学途径为在大的时间和空间尺度上理解和解释环境变化如何影响动物的生理特征提供了新的视角。目前对生理适应性对动物地理分布影响的过程和机理缺乏理解。本项目以我国北方地理分布较广且研究基础较好的长爪沙鼠（Meriones unguiculatus）为对象，通过用代谢组学方法，测定不同地理分布区和同一地区不同季节动物的不同组织中与能量代谢相关的代谢产物变化情况，结合测定不同地理分布区和不同季节动物肾脏组织的水通道蛋白表达的变化，从分子层次上刻画长爪沙鼠随不同地理梯度环境变化的适应机理，理解生理适应对动物地理分布的作用，发展基于环境变化的动物生理适应与分布范围的相关理论。研究结果将对于理解全球气候变化下动物不同组织层次对环境变化的适应调节有所贡献。

Physiological adaptation is important in determining the geographic distribution range of animals. Macrophysiology is a new approach to explain how the environmental variability affects physiological traits with a large spatial and temporal scales. We lack the knowledge of the process of how physiological adaptation affects the distribution range and limit. We plan to use Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), which has a large geographic distribution range and has been extensively studied on ecological physiology, as our model, by using methodology of metabolomics to determine the variations of metabolic products in representitive tissues from the animals of different geographic distribution sites and different seasons at a same sampling place, combining the determinations of changes in expression of aquaporins (AQPs, a molecular indicator for water balance) in the kidneys for the same samplings, to integratively understand the physiological mechanisms of Mongolian gerbils to adapt to the environmental variations with geographic gradients, to reveal the role of physiological adaptation in the geographic distribution range, and to develop the related climate-based theories for variation in geographic distribution range and physiological responses. The findings will contribute to our understanding of the adaptive physiological changes at different biological organizations under the macro-environment of global climate change in animals living in temperate zone.