Postdoctoral Fellowship: OPP-PRF: Identifying Central and Peripheral Thermosensors in Eurythermal and Stenothermal Arctic Fishes

北冰洋正在以全球平均速度的七倍变暖，危及并改变关键的生计和商业渔业。鱼类种群受到气候变暖的压力，同时也受到海洋酸化和氧化的压力。本研究的目的是表征蛋白质的进化，整合信号的变暖，改变pH值，并在北极和亚北极鱼类的感觉系统中的氧化：北极鳕鱼（Boreogadus色达），鳕鱼（Eleginus gracilis），大西洋鳕鱼（Gadus morhua）。研究这些感觉机制的进化可以深入了解鱼类对气候变化的敏感性和反应。这项工作也对理解人类蛋白质诱导的疼痛，炎症和瘙痒反应具有意义。在这项研究的过程中，两名来自科学代表性不足群体的本科生将通过暑期研究计划得到指导。将制定一个K-12课程计划，将该项目的见解与阿拉斯加土著科学课程和价值观以及下一代科学标准相结合。这项工作的一个主要目标是产生高质量的基因组和转录组数据在狭温和广温北极鱼类物种，但也在中央热敏神经组织，外周热敏神经组织，非热敏神经组织，和非神经的躯体组织。这些数据将使用第三代（IsoSeq）和第二代（RNASeq）测序技术的组合生成，并用于表征瞬时受体电位（TRP）通道序列和表达模式。TRP通道谱将使用调控和结构进化的计算机模拟测试进行比较，包括使用AlphaFold 2预测蛋白质结构。这些配置文件将进行比较物种，组织，并stenothermal南极鱼类，研究鱼类的温度感觉和收敛适应冷的中央和外周机制。这项工作是第一次调查任何北极物种的分子热敏蛋白的进化，也是第一次针对鱼类中枢神经系统的热敏机制。该项目探索了关键哨兵物种适应气候的生理机制，并通过产生北极鳕鱼（Boreogadus色达）的第一个长读基因组来扩展极地科学界的测序资源。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Arctic Ocean is warming at a rate up to seven times the global average, endangering and shifting key subsistence and commercial fisheries. Fish populations are stressed by warming and simultaneously by ocean acidification and oxidation. This study aims to characterize the evolution of proteins that integrate signals of warming, changing pH, and oxidation in the sensory systems of three species of Arctic and sub-Arctic fish: the Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida), saffron cod (Eleginus gracilis), and Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Studying the evolution of these sensory mechanisms provides insight into the sensitivity and responses of fish to climate change. This work also has implications for understanding protein-induced pain, inflammation, and itch responses in humans. During the course of this research, two undergraduates from underrepresented groups in science will be mentored through a summer research program. A K-12 lesson plan will be developed that combines the insights from this project with Alaska Native science curricula and values and Next Generation Science Standards. A major goal of this work is to generate high-quality genomic and transcriptomic data across stenothermal and eurythermal Arctic fish species, but also across central thermosensory nervous tissue, peripheral thermosensory nervous tissue, non-thermosensory nervous tissue, and non-nervous somatic tissue. These data will be generated using a combination of 3rd (IsoSeq) and 2nd (RNASeq) generation sequencing technologies and be used to characterize transient receptor potential (TRP) channel sequences and expression patterns. TRP channel profiles will be compared using in silico tests of regulatory and structural evolution, including predicting protein structure using AlphaFold2. These profiles will be compared between species, tissues, and to stenothermal Antarctic fishes to investigate central and peripheral mechanisms of temperature sensation in fishes and convergent adaptation to cold. This work is the first investigation into the evolution of molecular thermosensor proteins in any Arctic species and the first to target mechanisms of thermosensation in the central nervous system of fishes. This project explores physiological mechanisms of climate adaptation in key sentinel species and expands the sequencing resources of the polar science community by generating the first long-read genome for Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.