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气浓度、盐度、温度甚至每天或季节性的水供应都不同的环境中。我的研究项目主要集中在这些环境因素如何干扰生理系统和水生动物用来补偿这些扰动的机制。在下一个授权周期，我的目标是确定1)在不同环境条件下两栖鱼类在生命早期和后期阶段的含氮废物排泄机制，2)两栖鱼类在空气中使用渗透调节，呼吸和身体支持自己的策略，以及3)氨转运蛋白（恒河糖蛋白）在硬骨鱼和板鳃鱼肾脏氨转运中的作用。例如，我们提出了一个新的假设，即陆地上相对于水中更强的重力重塑了活动两栖鱼类的组织和器官，以增加其在空气中的强度、刚度和性能。我们将研究两栖红树河（以及其他物种），它们可以在离开水后存活长达2个月。我们还将研究硬骨鱼（金鱼）和软骨鱼（鲨鱼）肾脏中猕猴糖蛋白对强酸性水的调节，以验证肾脏氨排泄与Na+运输耦合的假设。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对关键生理系统的可塑性和脊椎动物在面对极端环境扰动时用来维持体内平衡的细胞机制的更全面的理解。

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.