RUI: Collaboration: Biochemical Adaptation in a Montane Insect Herbivore

达尔霍夫9808836 PIS将研究生活在加利福尼亚州内华达山脉东部的叶甲金甲虫的温度适应机制。PI选择了生活在三个以陡峭的海拔和温度梯度为特征的流域的甲虫种群：大松溪、毕晓普溪和岩溪。PI将表征这些排水系统的热环境，并确定生活在各种微生境中的甲虫的体温。整个夏天，每个排水口将连续测量三个高度的气温。私人投资者将精确绘制每个地区晴朗和阴暗的栖息地地图。PI将使用配备微型热电偶的数字温度计来测量成年甲虫和幼虫在整个夏天的体温：白天在一个地点，几天在不同的海拔，以及在每个地方的阳光和阴凉的地方。PI还将量化已知体温的甲虫体内热应激诱导蛋白HSP70的组织水平--最后，PI将使用酶电泳来表征种群的遗传特征。这些结果将使我们能够量化环境温度变化和甲虫对此的反应。这个项目的实地和实验室部分都将涉及本科生的广泛参与。

Dahlhoff 9808836 The PIS will examine mechanisms of temperature adaptation in the leaf beetle Chrysomela aerteicollis living in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, California. The PIs have selected beetle populations living in three drainages characterized by steep altitudinal and thermal gradients: Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek, and Rock Creek. The PIs will characterize the thermal environment of these drainages and determine the body temperatures of beetles living in a variety of microhabitats. Air temperatures will be measured continuously over the summer at three altitudes per drainage. The PIs will map sunny and shady habitats in each locality precisely. The PIs will use digital thermometers equipped with micro-thermocouples to measure the body temperatures of adult beetles and larvae over the course of the summer: at a single location during the day,at different altitudes over several days, and in sunny and shady sites in each locality. The PIs will also quantify tissue levels of the heat-stress inducible protein HSP70 in beetles of known body temperature- Finally, the PIs will use enzyme electrophoresis to characterize the populations genetically. These results will allow us to quantify environmental temperature variation and the beetles' response to it. Both field and laboratory portions of this project will involve extensive participation of undergraduates.