Biological Timing in Intertidal Decapod Crustaceans

有生命的有机体暴露在由地球的运动和月球的运动造成的环境循环中。大多数物种已经适应了太阳日和季节的交替，并在生理和行为上表现出与这些周期同步的振荡。此外，生活在海边的物种表现出与潮汐周期同步的生物振荡。许多这些日常和潮汐的生物振荡是由生物钟产生的，生物钟是内源性的生物过程，可以与环境同步振荡。在沿海栖息地的甲壳类动物中，人们对构成这些生物钟的神经和分子成分知之甚少。该项目的主要目标是表征生活在沿海地区的甲壳类动物负责日常和潮汐节律的生物钟。将使用的技术包括分离与时钟机制有关的特定基因，以及在实验室中研究行为节律性。这些研究将有助于理解生物计时系统，并将更具体地确定居住在海岸的物种如何适应由太阳日和潮汐周期引起的环境变化。该项目提供了一个极好的机会，在一个独特的沿海环境中研究生物节律，即太平洋西北海岸，并将通过利用华盛顿大学和星期五港实验室的研究设施，为研究生和本科生的研究培训提供一个论坛。

Living organisms are exposed to environmental cycles that result from the movement of the planet, as well as the movement of the moon. Most species have adapted to the solar day and the alternation of seasons and show oscillations in their physiology and behavior that are in synchrony with these cycles. Furthermore, species living at the seashore show biological oscillations in synchrony with the tidal cycle. Many of these daily and tidal biological oscillations are generated by biological clocks, which are endogenous biological processes that can oscillate in synchrony with the environment. Very little is known about the neural and molecular components that constitute these biological clocks in crustaceans of coastal habitats. The main goal of this project is to characterize the biological clocks responsible for daily and tidal rhythmicity in crustaceans living in coastal areas. Techniques will be used that involve isolation of specific genes involved in the clock mechanism and the study of behavioral rhythmicity in the laboratory. The studies will contribute to the understanding of biological timing systems and it will more specifically establish how species inhabiting the seashore have adapted to the environmental changes that result from the solar day and the tidal cycles. This project provides an excellent opportunity to study biological rhythms in a unique costal environment, namely the Pacific Northwest Coast and will provide a forum for both graduate and undergraduate student research training, by exploiting the research facilities at University of Washington and at Friday Harbor Laboratories.