Heat Shock Gene Expression: An Indicator of Thermal Stress in Marine Animals

基因表达的环境调控肯定是 对海洋生物的生存和成功至关重要。 在 然而，目前对它们之间的相互作用知之甚少。 环境因素之间，例如，温度和 任何海洋真核生物基因转录的调节 有机体 唯一一个被充分理解的环境保护的例子 基因表达的控制是在热休克的情况下 热休克蛋白（HSPs），这是由高温和其他 应力（例如，缺氧）在所有生物体迄今为止研究。然而，在这方面， 研究的海洋物种很少。该项目将研究 热休克基因（HSP）系统在一些物种的 不同的热适应海洋动物，以确定：（一） 热应激（HSP诱导）的阈值温度 发生在不同适应的物种（或种群）中，（ii） 热休克蛋白在幼虫和成虫中的诱导模式 沿海鱼类，和（iii）潜在的分子基础， HSP的种间差异 表情 将特别注意同源 栖息在不同热环境中的物种，例如，沿炜 分离出两个属的鱼类，鱼属和鱼属， 贻贝贻贝，以及各种鱼类，其幼虫阶段 栖息在可能温暖的海湾和河口。 这些目标 研究包括（i）发展一个强有力的分子指数 （二）环境压力的发现; 耐热机制，以及（iii）阐明 HSP调节机制的进化差异， 设置不同的感应温度差- 适应的物种。 HSP诱导温度可提供 对不同材料耐热性的重要见解 物种和种群，即，转化为基本的分子 地理分布模式的基础。 发展 一种相对简单的无脊椎动物HSP筛选方法， 可以提供一种测量压力水平的有用方法 自然界中的海洋生物所经历的。

Environmental regulation of gene expression is certain to be critical for the survival and success of marine organisms. At present, however, very little is known about the interactions between environmental factors, e.g., temperature, and the regulation of transcription of genes in any marine eucaryotic organism. The only well understood example of environmental control of gene expression is in the case of the heat shock proteins (HSPs), which are induced by high temperature and other stresses (e.g., anoxia) in all organisms so far studied. However, few marine species have been examined. This project will examine the heat shock gene (HSP) system in several species of differently thermally-adapted marine animals to determine: (i) the threshold temperatures at which heat stress (HSP induction) takes place in differently adapted species (or populations), (ii) the induction patterns of HSPs in larval and adult individuals of coastal fishes, and (iii) the underlying molecular bases of the inter-specific (or inter-population) differences in HSP expression. Particular attention will be given to congeneric species inhabiting different thermal regimes, e.g., latitudinally separated species of two genera of fish, Sebastes and Embiotoca, the mussel Mytilus, and to various fishes whose larval stages inhabit potentially warm bays and estuaries. The goals of these studies include (i) the development of a powerful molecular index for gauging environmental stress; (ii) the discovery of basic mechanisms of thermal tolerance, and (iii) the elucidation of evolutionary differences in the HSP regulatory mechanisms, which set the differences in induction temperatures in differently- adapted species. HSP induction temperatures may provide important insights into the thermal tolerance of different species and populations, i.e., into the fundamental molecular basis for biogeographical distribution patterns. The development of a relatively simple screening method for HSP in invertebrates, could provide a useful method for gauging the level of stress experienced by natural populations of marine organisms.