Fertilization Ecology and Kinetics of Deep-Sea Echinoderms

在自由产卵的无脊椎动物中，受精成功或 失败可能会对招聘产生重大影响， 种群动态 尽管受精过程 在细胞和分子水平上被广泛研究， 精子如何与卵子相遇的生态学问题 基本上没有解决。 浅水棘皮动物利用光线 其他环境线索来同步产卵。 许多 这种线索在深海中是不存在的;事实上， 促进低密度深海种群的受精 是完全未知的。 杨博士和他的合作者 发现了许多精子的变异（大精子头， 双形精子，双极精子，广泛的能量储存）， 深海海胆可以提高受精成功率。 初步数据还表明，一些深海精子 能存活很长时间一些成年棘皮动物 用于繁殖的聚集体。 这些研究人员提出了一个 多学科的比较研究， 非结构和施肥动力学的问题， 精子和卵子在深海相遇 这一方法包括 预测精子的方程的浅水原位验证 浓度和施肥的成功和比较， 热带半深海棘皮动物与 生活在同一水域的浅水温带物种 温度

In freely spawning invertebrates, fertilization success or failure may have a major impact on recruitment and hence on population dynamics. Although the process of fertilization has been studied extensively at the cellular and molecular levels, the ecological question of how sperm encounter eggs remains largely unresolved. Shallow-water echinoderms use light and other environmental cues to synchronize their spawning. Many such cues are not available in the deep sea; indeed, mechanisms facilitating fertilization in low-density, deep-sea populations are completely unknown. Dr. Young and a collaborator has discovered numerous sperm modifications (large sperm head, dimorphic sperm, bipolar sperm, extensive energy stores) among deep-sea echinoids that could enhance fertilization success. Preliminary data also indicate that some deep-sea sperm remain viable for very long periods and that some adult echinoderms aggregate for breeding. These investigators propose a multidisciplinary, comparative study that relates gamete untrastructure and fertilization kinetics to the problem of sperm-egg encounter in the deep sea. The approach includes shallow-water in situ validation of equations that predict sperm concentration and fertilization success and a comparison of fertilization kinetics between tropical bathyal echinoderms and shallow-water temperate species living at the same temperature.