Functional Roles of a Novel Crustacean Hormone in Differentiation and Development of Secondary Traits

在包括人类在内的大多数脊椎动物中，由性时性腺产生的激素控制分化和第二性征。 目前在双形甲壳动物的范例是，雄腺和雄腺激素的存在和缺乏决定分化和发展的男性和女性，分别。 本研究发现，一种新的甲壳类雌性蛋白激素从眼柄神经节的雌性蓝蟹Callinectes sapidus所需的女性特定的次要性状。 这组研究人员的目的是通过确定早期发育中雄激素腺原基的命运和维持在甲壳类动物中表现出可塑性的性腺，来测试这种新型雌性激素是否在分化中起着不可或缺的作用。 本研究将1）建立雌激素在发育过程中的表达和浓度;胚胎发育至成体（雌性和雄性）; 2）通过检测胰岛素样雄激素腺因子的表达来确定功能性雄激素腺出现的关键时间; 3）鉴定雌性和雄性中雌性激素的特定靶组织部位; 4）利用RNA干扰技术检测雌激素在次生性状分化和发育中的作用，生化功能获得和雄激素腺植入实验。 该项目的优势和新颖之处在于使用了实验模型动物C。sapidus的历史和精确的生命阶段是已知的，因为它们是在海洋与环境技术研究所饲养的？的蓝蟹孵化场（巴尔的摩，马里兰州）。 这项研究将有助于促进对甲壳类动物次级性状分化和发展的激素机制的基本理解，这一点仍然很重要，因为节肢动物门的丰富性和生物多样性。 一名博士后研究员、少数民族本科生和K-12教师将参加该项目。 来自巴尔的摩理工学院（巴尔的摩市）的十名高中生将参加为期五天的夏季海洋科学营（2013年和2015年），并研究环境因素对切萨皮克湾活动物（蓝蟹作为模型动物）健康和生长的影响。 这些数据将通过科学和公共媒体传播。

Hormones produced by gonochronic gonads control differentiation and secondary gender characteristics in most vertebrates including humans. The current paradigm in dimorphic crustaceans is that the presence and absence of androgenic gland and androgenic gland hormone determine differentiation and development of males and females, respectively. This investigator has found that a novel crustacean female protein hormone from the eyestalk ganglia of female blue crab Callinectes sapidus is required for female-specific secondary traits. This team of investigators aim to test whether this novel female hormone plays an integral role in differentiation by determining the fate of androgenic gland anlage at early development and maintaining the gonochronic gonads that exhibit plasticity in crustaceans. This research will 1) establish the female hormone expression and concentration during the development of C. sapidus from embryogenesis to adults (both females and males); 2) determine the critical timing of appearance of functional androgenic gland by examining the expression of insulin-like androgenic gland factor; 3) identify specific target tissue sites of female hormones in females and males; and, 4) examine the function of female hormone in differentiation and development of secondary traits using RNA interference techniques, biochemical gain-of-function, and androgenic gland implant experiments. The strength and a novel aspect of this project is the usage of an experimental model animal, C. sapidus in which the history and precise life stages are known, as they are raised in the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology?s blue crab hatchery (Baltimore, MD). This study will contribute and advance in the fundamental understanding of the hormonal mechanism of differentiation and development of secondary traits in crustaceans, which continue to be of importance because of abundance and biodiversity of Phylum Arthropoda. A post-doctoral researcher, minority undergraduates and K-12 teachers will participate in this project. Ten high school students from the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Baltimore City) will partake in a five-day Summer Marine Science Camp (2013 and 2015) and study the effect of environmental factors on the health and growth of living animals (the blue crab as a model animal) in the Chesapeake Bay. The data will be disseminated through scientific and public media.