Physiology of Fish in Extreme Environments

我的研究领域是环境生理学。水生动物可以生活在氧浓度、盐度、温度甚至每日或季节性可用水的不同环境中。我的研究重点是这些环境因素如何扰乱生理系统，以及水生动物用来补偿这些扰动的机制。在下一个授予周期中，我的目标是确定1)在不同环境条件下两栖鱼类早期和后期氮废物排泄的机制，2)两栖鱼类在空气中用于渗透调节、呼吸和体力维持的策略，3)氨运输蛋白(恒河猴糖蛋白)在硬骨鱼和棘鱼肾脏氨运输中的作用。例如，我们提出了一个新的假设，即相对于水，陆地上更强的引力重塑了活跃的两栖鱼类的组织和器官，以增加强度、刚性和在空气中的表现。我们将研究能在水中存活长达2个月的两栖红树林溪流红树林(以及其他物种)。我们还将研究骨骼鱼(金鱼)和软骨鱼(鲨鱼)肾脏中恒河猴糖蛋白对强酸性水的响应，以验证肾氨排泄与Na+转运耦合的假说。我们的方法是从分子水平到整个动物水平研究其机制。从这项研究中获得的见解将提供更全面的了解，以了解关键生理系统的可塑性，以及脊椎动物在面对极端环境扰动时用来维持动态平衡的细胞机制。

My area of research is environmental physiology. Aquatic animals can live in environments that vary in terms of oxygen concentrations, salinity, temperature and even water availability on a daily or seasonal basis. My research program focuses on how these environmental factors disturb physiological systems and the mechanisms that aquatic animals employ to compensate for these perturbations. Over the next granting cycle my objectives are to determine 1) the mechanisms of nitrogenous waste excretion in amphibious fishes during early life and later stages under variable environmental conditions, 2) the strategies that amphibious fishes use to osmoregulate, respire and physically support themselves in air and 3) the role of ammonia transporting proteins (Rhesus glycoproteins) in ammonia transport in the kidney of teleost and elasmobranch fishes. For example, we have proposed a novel hypothesis that stronger gravitational forces on land relative to water remodel tissues and organs of active amphibious fishes to increase strength, rigidity and performance in air. We will study the amphibious mangrove rivulus Kryptolebias marmoratus (as well as other species) that survive up to 2 months out of water. We will also study the regulation of Rhesus glycoproteins in the kidney of bony (goldfish) versus cartilaginous fishes (shark) in response to severely acidic water to test the hypothesis that renal ammonia excretion is coupled with Na+ transport. Our approach is to study the mechanisms from the molecular to whole animal level. The insights gained from this research will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the plasticity of key physiological systems and the cellular mechanisms that vertebrates utilize to maintain homeostasis in the face of extreme environmental perturbations.