Collaborative Research: The effect of temperature and low oxygen on muscle performance, oxygen uptake and delivery in fish exposed to disparate thermal environments

温度在动物的生物学中起着重要的作用，特别是对于那些维持高水平运动活动的动物，因为肌肉性能和血氧结合特性都受到直接影响。对于大多数体温与周围环境相似的脊椎动物来说，环境温度的变化会对生理产生深远的影响。海洋中上层鱼类生活在一个热稳定的环境中，其特征是温度只随深度和纬度发生显著变化。虽然许多鱼保持在一个狭窄的温度范围内，但已知一些鱼会跨越广阔的纬度范围或潜入更深、更冷的水域。在那些经常潜水的物种中，很少有能够在寒冷的深海中长时间生存的。剑鱼是为数不多的活跃鱼类之一，它们能够在寒冷、缺氧的深海中潜水很长一段时间，然后迅速回到温暖的表层水域。旗鱼在不同环境下的承受能力和日常转换能力使其成为研究温度和缺氧对脊椎动物肌肉功能和氧气运输影响的理想候选者。本研究将评估对这些极端环境条件具有不同耐受水平的鱼类的温度和缺氧耐受性对肌肉性能、心肺功能和基因表达的影响。这项研究建立在之前由美国国家科学基金会资助的肌肉功能研究的基础上，将增加我们对选择压力如何导致边缘生活适应的理解。该项目将涉及众多学生（高中，本科和研究生水平）动手实地和实验室研究。这项工作的结果将通过研讨会、演讲和互联网门户网站向公众（包括当地渔民和K-12）传播。这项工作的结果也将以无障碍的形式传达给科学、管理和公共社区，目的是提高对科学探究、发现和进步的认识。

Temperature plays an important role in the biology of animals, particularly for those that sustain high levels of locomotor activity, as both muscle performance and blood-oxygen binding properties are directly affected. For most vertebrates, in which body temperature is similar to that of the surrounding environment, a change in ambient temperature will have profound effects on physiology. Marine pelagic fishes live in a thermally-stable environment marked by significant variation in temperature only with depth and latitude. While many fish remain within a narrow temperature range some are known to migrate across wide latitudinal ranges or dive into deeper, colder water. Of those species that routinely dive, few are capable of sustaining long periods of time within the cold, deep ocean. The swordfish is one of relatively few active fish species capable of diving for extended periods of time in the deep, cold, and oxygen depleted waters and then rapidly returning to the warm surface waters. The ability to withstand and routinely transition between disparate environmental regimes makes the swordfish an ideal candidate for studies of the effects of temperature and hypoxia on vertebrate muscle function and oxygen transport. This study will assess the effects of temperature and hypoxia tolerance on muscle performance, cardiorespiratory function, and gene expression in fishes with different levels of tolerance for these extreme ambient conditions. This study builds upon previous NSF-funded research on muscle function and will increase our understanding of how selective pressures have lead to adaptations for life on the edge. This project will involve numerous students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate level) in hands-on field and laboratory research. The findings from this work will be communicated to the general public (including local fishermen and K-12) via seminars, presentations and internet portals. The results from this work will also be communicated in accessible formats to scientific, management, and public communities with the intent to foster greater awareness of scientific inquiry, discovery and progress.