-80C freezers for sample storage and archiving

加拿大的水生环境变化很大。温度、盐度和氧气水平在空间上(从一个地方到另一个地方)和时间上(从小时到天，以及跨季节)都有所不同。这项提议支持的研究试图了解鱼类如何应对这种环境变化。特别是，我们的目标是了解物种之间或物种内个体之间的遗传差异如何转化为容忍环境变化的能力的差异。因此，这项研究解决了当今生物学家面临的最根本的挑战之一：发展对遗传变异和表型变异(或生物体可观察特征的变异)之间的联系的理解。除了提供基本的见解外，这项研究在水产养殖和渔业中也有相当大的实际应用。在水产养殖中，了解导致环境变化的基因可以帮助养鱼户选择最好的动物作为他们养殖场的牲畜。在渔业中，它可能有助于识别对环境压力特别敏感或对环境压力具有弹性的个人或种群，这可能有助于放养或缓解计划。为了进行这项研究，我们必须确定大量个体动物的表型，然后从生化、分子和遗传水平对这些动物的特征进行评估。这些分析要求组织样本在分析前保存在极低的温度(-80摄氏度)中，以保持其生物完整性。这项提议要求两台80摄氏度的冷冻机来存储这些样品。

Canadian aquatic environments are highly variable. Temperature, salinity and oxygen levels vary both in space (from one place to another) and in time (at scales from hours, to days, and across seasons). The research to be supported by this proposal seeks to understand how fish cope with this environmental variation. In particular, we aim to understand how genetic differences among species or among individuals within a species are translated into differences in the ability to tolerate environmental change. Thus this research addresses one of the most fundamental challenges facing biologists today: developing an understanding of the links between genetic variation and phenotypic variation (or variation in the observable characteristics of organisms). As well as providing fundamental insights, this research also has considerable practical applications in aquaculture and fisheries. In aquaculture, understanding the genes that contribute to variation in the response to the environment can help fish farmers to select the best animals to use as stock in their farms. In fisheries, it may help identify individuals or populations that are particularly sensitive to, or resilient in the face of, environmental stress, which may be helpful in stocking or mitigation programs. In order to perform this research, we must determine the phenotypes of large numbers of individual animals, and then the characteristics of these animals must be assessed at a biochemical, molecular and genetic level. These analyses require that tissue samples be stored at very low temperatures (-80C) to preserve their biological integrity before analysis. This proposal requests two -80C freezers to store these samples.