Respirometry and environmental control in micro aquatic systems

动物消耗氧气，以便从食物中获得的蛋白质、碳水化合物和脂肪中获取能量。动物消耗的氧气量随着身体大小、运动、压力、温度、日常身体节律等变量而变化。准确测量摄氧量是代谢率的良好指标，可提供有关动物生理状态的基本信息。通过测量每单位时间从外部水中排出的氧气量，可以测量水生呼吸中的摄氧量。在空气呼吸器中，由于空气中的氧气浓度相对较高，这一测量可能会变得复杂，特别是如果生物体相对较小的话。我们正在申请资金购买最先进的呼吸测量设备，以精确测量小型水生和两栖鱼类从个体胚胎(1毫米)到成鱼(&lt；3厘米)在水或空气中的所有发育阶段的静止氧气消耗。在这些静态测量之后，将使用专门的微型游泳隧道测量游泳或活动鱼类的摄氧量，以评估在先前暴露于环境扰动后的表现。环境扰动包括环境中的低氧(缺氧)和二氧化碳水平升高(高二氧化碳)。我们要求资金购买两个独立的系统，一个用于氧气，另一个用于二氧化碳，以精确地调节鱼缸中的这些参数。&lt；1天)或较长时间(例如&gt；一个月)。数据通过计算机界面进行收集和分析。所要求的设备是NSERC资助的四个研究项目的基础，将每周使用一次。

Animals consume oxygen in order to harvest energy from proteins, carbohydrates and fats obtained in food. The amount of oxygen an animal consumes changes with body size, exercise, stress, temperature, daily body rhythms, among other variables. Accurate measurement of oxygen uptake, a good proxy for metabolic rate provides fundamental information on an animal's physiological status. Oxygen uptake can be measured in aquatic breathers by measuring the amount of oxygen removed from the external water per unit time. In air breathers, the measurement can be complicated by the relatively high oxygen concentrations in air, especially if the organisms are relatively small. We are requesting funds to purchase state-of-the-art respirometry equipment to precisely measure resting oxygen consumption in small aquatic and amphibious fishes at all stages of development from individual embryos (1 mm) to adults (< 3 cm) in water or air. These resting measurements will be followed up by measurements of oxygen uptake in swimming or active fish using specialized micro swim tunnels to assess performance after previous exposure to environmental perturbations. Environmental perturbations include low oxygen (hypoxia) and elevated carbon dioxide levels (hypercapnia) in the environment. We request funds to purchase two independent systems, one for oxygen, the other for carbon dioxide to precisely regulate these parameters in fish tanks for short (eg. < 1 day) or long periods of time (eg. > 1 month). Data is collected and analyzed by a computer interface. The equipment requested is fundamental to four NSERC-funded research programs and will be used weekly.