POWRE: A Pilot Study of Chemoreception Mechanisms in Deposit-Feeding Polychaetes

这项建议被提交给全美妇女研究和教育专业机会(POWRE)计划。PI建议开始研究螺旋体多毛类的感官机制协调化学接收，螺旋体多毛类是一种常见的以沉积物为食的无脊椎动物。这些蠕虫广泛分布在软沉积物底栖海洋环境中，与其他取食沉积物的动物一起，造成了对这种环境至关重要的生物扰动。一些证据表明，在各种物种中，化学感受可能会协调沉积物摄取率和其他方面的沉积物摄食。这项拟议的研究将试图确定蠕虫用来检测化学刺激的一些生理和分子机制。

This proposal was submitted to the NSF-wide Professional Opportunities for Women in Research and Education (POWRE) program. The PI proposes to begin research on the sensory mechanisms coordinating chemoreception in spionid polychaetes, a common deposit-feeding invertebrate. These worms are widely distributed in soft-sediment benthic marine environments and, along with other deposit-feeders, are responsible for the bioturbation that is important to this environment. Some evidence indicates that chemoreception may coordinate sediment ingestion rate and other aspects of deposit-feeding in a variety of species. The proposed research will attempt to identify some of the physiological and molecular mechanisms used by the worms to detect chemical stimuli.