Neuroexcitatory Environmental Stress: Comparative and Integrative Studies

许多环境压力源，如有毒金属、藻类生物毒素、物理创伤和低氧都是神经兴奋性的，因此过度刺激神经系统。这些发现在很大程度上已经建立在生物医学模型中，然而对于生态生物体如何应对这种神经兴奋性应激知之甚少。尽管生物体在其自然环境中会在整个生命周期中不断暴露于这些压力源。我研究的长期目标是更好地理解生态生物体对兴奋性应激源的反应的发育、分子、细胞和行为机制。这里的重点是鸟类，特别是禽蛋（鸡、鹌鹑、野鸭）。在鸡蛋的封闭环境中，对压力源的暴露可以被仔细控制，生物反应可以在多个组织层面进行测量和整合，鸡蛋可以在实验室和自然界中进行研究。我们将重点关注生理（l-谷氨酸）和生态（甲基汞和铅）兴奋性应激源。这项工作对于了解环境压力因素对自然种群健康的影响以及生物体如何应对具有重要意义。具体来说，本研究的结果有望填补有关易感性发育窗口、多重应激源影响和神经兴奋反应的综合生理学（即从分子到整个动物）方面的主要知识空白。研究结果将通过会议和出版物广泛传播给政府和非营利机构的同事以及科学界。通过让学生进行实验，将研究和教育目标结合起来。

Many environmental stressors, such as toxic metals, algal biotoxins, physical trauma, and low oxygen are neuroexcitatory and thus over-stimulate the nervous system. These findings have largely been established in biomedical models, however little is known about how ecological organisms respond to and cope with such neuroexcitatory stress. This, despite the fact that organisms in their natural environment are continually exposed to such stressors across the lifespan. The long-term goal of my research is to better understand the developmental, molecular, cellular and behavioral mechanisms by which ecological organisms respond to exposure to excitatory stressors. The specific focus here will be on birds and in the particular the avian egg (chicken, quail, mallard). Exposure to stressors can be carefully controlled in the closed environment of an egg, biological responses can be measured and integrated across multiple levels of organization, and eggs can be studied in both the laboratory and the natural world. We will focus on physiological (l-glutamic acid) and ecological (methylmercury and lead) excitatory stressors. This work is important for understanding the impacts of environmental stressors on the health of natural populations, and how organisms cope. Specifically, the outcome of this research is expected to fill major knowledge gaps concerning developmental windows of vulnerability, multiple stressor impacts, and integrative physiology (i.e., molecular to whole animal) of neuroexcitatory responses. Findings will be broadly disseminated to colleagues in government and non-profit agencies, and the scientific community through conferences and publications. Research and education objectives will be integrated by having students conduct the experiments.