CAREER: Use of C. Elegans to Identify Alleles and Genotypes that Modulate Severe Anoxia Survival

环境压力是生活中的一个事实，因为所有的有机体都暴露在不断变化的环境中。生物体显然已经适应了感知和生存环境变化的能力，然而，如果环境压力持续或过于严重，有机体的生存能力就会受到损害。初步数据支持缺氧生存至少部分依赖于胰岛素样信号通路(daf-2/daf-16)的观点。这项资助的中心假设是，胰岛素样信号通路调节特定的基因，从而维持缺氧生存。使用模型系统线虫的遗传学方法将被用来识别导致缺氧生存的特定等位基因。将对以下内容进行鉴定和分析：耐长期缺氧的基因突变体，暴露在缺氧环境中的特定组织的基因表达谱，以及特定器官和组织在缺氧反应和存活中所起的作用。这些研究将开始在基因水平上解释为什么一些生物体或组织对缺氧更具抵抗力。拟议的教育活动侧重于为本科生遗传学实验室课程和榆树叉子教育中心(EFEC)现有的K-7年级科学课程开发基于发现的课程。这些课程的开展将使学生积极参与科学发现的过程，获得更好的成就感，并促进对科学教育的兴趣增加。EFEC是一个全国知名的、高度创新的、以探究为基础的科学教育项目，参与该项目将使数千名学生接触到科学发现。

Environmental stress is a fact of life, in that all organisms are exposed to ever changing conditions. Organisms have clearly adapted the capacity to sense and survive changes within their environment, yet if the environmental stress is either prolonged or too severe, the viability of the organism is compromised. Preliminary data supports the idea that oxygen deprivation survival is dependent, at least in part, on the insulin-like signaling pathway (daf-2/daf-16). The central hypothesis of this grant is that the insulin-like signaling pathway modulates specific genes that confer severe anoxia survival. A genetic approach using the model system C. elegans, will be used to identify specific alleles that lead to oxygen deprivation survival. The following will be identified and analyzed: genetic mutants that are resistant to long-term anoxia, gene expression profiles in specific tissues of organisms exposed to oxygen deprivation and the role specific organs and tissue have in response to and survival of oxygen deprivation. These studies will begin to explain, at the genetic level, why some organisms or tissues are more resistant to oxygen deprivation. The proposed educational activities focus on development of discovery-based lessons for the undergraduate genetics lab course and the existing K-7th grade science program at Elm Fork Education Center (EFEC). The development of these lessons will allow students to be actively involved in the process of scientific discovery, gain a better sense of accomplishment, and promote an increased interest in science education. The involvement in the EFEC, a nationally known, highly innovative, inquiry-based science education program will expose thousands of students to scientific discovery.