EAGER: Environmental Alterations of the Animal Development Plan: Testing the Heterokairy Hypothesis

该项目研究了发育生理学中的一个潜在的转变概念-生理异配（在个体和群体水平上重建动物的生理发育计划）-目前主要是理论上的。本项目的目标是确定在开发过程中缺氧是否会影响到呼吸空气的鱼（蓝鱼）开始空气呼吸的开发计划的时间。将测量空气呼吸器官的结构发展及其有效性的开始。正在测试的假设是，开始呼吸空气和支持器官的发展，这将“拯救”幼虫从缺氧造成的有害影响，将在几乎没有氧气的情况下生长的幼虫中更快地发育，说明器官系统发育中关键事件的根本重组。实验支持异心可能会在发育生理学家如何解释环境对器官系统水平发育时间表的影响方面产生重大变化。我们怀疑异配体发生，但这个概念还有待系统地研究。我们的初步实验表明，丝足鱼有能力根据环境变化改变其发育，因此是非常适合测试的物种。除了研究生培训的影响，这笔赠款将通过与墨西哥的UNT“姐妹机构”的合作伙伴关系创造国际研究经验，帮助使西班牙裔/拉丁裔学生的“遗产重新发现”，这些学生已经从他们的文化起源中漂流出来。这些活动将使学生了解生物学的国际范围;提供科学联网的机会;并使墨西哥裔学生认识到他们祖先家园的丰富科学和文化成就。该项目由综合有机系统司（生物科学局）和国际科学与工程办公室资助。

This project investigates a potentially transforming concept in developmental physiology - physiological heterokairy (restructuring of the animal's physiological developmental plan at the individual and population levels) - that currently is mostly theoretical. The goal of this project is to determine whether deprivation of oxygen during development affects the timing of the development plan for the start of aerial respiration in an air-breathing fish, the blue gourami. Measurements will be made of the structural development of the air breathing organ and of the onset of its effectiveness. The hypothesis being tested is that the onset of air-breathing and the development of supporting organs, which would "rescue" the larvae from the harmful effects caused by the lack of oxygen, will develop sooner in larvae growing with little oxygen, illustrating fundamental restructuring of key events in organ system development. Experimental support for heterokairy could create a major change in how developmental physiologists interpret the environment's effects on the developmental timetable at the organ system level. We suspect that heterokairy occurs, but this concept has yet to be systematically examined. Our preliminary experiments show that the gourami has the ability to change its development in response to environmental changes and so is a highly appropriate species for testing. Beyond the impacts of graduate training, this grant will create international research experiences through partnership with UNT's "sister institution" in Mexico, helping to enable "heritage rediscovery" in students of Hispanic/Latino descent who have drifted from their cultural origins. These activities will provide students with an appreciation for the international scope of biology; provide opportunities for scientific networking; and create awareness among students of Mexican descent of the rich scientific and cultural achievements of their ancestral home. This project is funded by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (Directorate for Biological Sciences) and the Office of International Science and Engineering.