Test Morphogenesis in Giant Antarctic Foraminifera

有些有孔虫原生动物产生由矿物颗粒组成的壳，这些矿物颗粒被一种耐化学的生物胶结物紧密地结合在一起。在贝壳发育过程中，这些单细胞动物从沉积物中收集矿物颗粒，并在适当的数量和位置分泌水泥，以雕刻出精美的建筑结构。在南极的一个收集点，某些巨型物种的丰富程度使那里的有孔虫群落非常适合研究这种壳结构的特定方面，并解决有关该群体进化的相关问题。对这些结构发展的研究将集中在一个巨大的单细胞物种上，这使得研究水泥在适应寒冷的海洋生物中的分泌，而不需要多细胞动物常见的细胞与细胞和细胞与组织相互作用的复杂性。使用延时视频显微镜、光镜和电镜细胞化学以及凝胶电泳的研究将在细胞和生化分析水平上提供这种测试构建的信息。材料测试结合结构建模将表征水泥的力学性能。从实用的角度来看，这种环境安全的水泥结合免疫球蛋白，具有有用的材料特性，可以应用于生物技术或生物医学领域。最后，对选定物种的分子遗传分析，将为确定这一重要原生动物群体的进化提供一个急需的框架。由于生物技术的新进展，这一高度跨学科的项目成为可能，并对各种领域具有基础和应用意义，包括医学、分子药理学、原生动物的发育和进化、古生物学、工程和海洋产品化学等等。

Some types of foraminiferan protozoa produce shells composed of mineral grains tightly bound by a chemically-resistant, biological cement. During shell development, these single celled animals collect mineral grains from the sediment and secrete cement in the proper amount and location to sculpt architecturally elegant structures. The high abundance of certain giant species at an antarctic collection site makes the foraminiferan community there uniquely suited for studying specific aspects of such shell construction, and for addressing related questions concerning the evolution of the group. Studies on the development of these structures will focus on a giant one-celled species that allows the study of the secretion of cement in a cold-adapted marine organism without the complications of cell to cell and cell to tissue interactions common to multicellular animals. Studies using time-lapse videomicroscopy, light- and electron-microscopic cell chemistry and gel electrophoresis will provide information on this kind of test construction at the cellular and biochemical levels of analysis. Materials testing combined with structural modelling will characterize the mechanical properties of the cement. From a practical standpoint, this environmentally-safe cement binds immunoglobulins and has useful material properties that may have applied biotechnological or biomedical applications. Finally, molecular genetic analyses of selected species, will provide a much-needed framework for determining the evolution of this important protozoan group. This highly interdisciplinary project is made possible by new advances in biotechnology, and has both basic and applied implications for a variety of fields, including medicine, molecular pharmacology, protozoan development and evolution, paleontology, engineering, and marine products chemistry to name a few.