Environmental Growth Chambers for Insect Husbandry, Experimental Endocrinology, RNAi, and Genomic Engineering

在自然界或临床上观察到的发育和生理变化不仅仅是基因差异的结果。大量的数据表明，基因和环境（营养、致癌物）共同产生了这种变异。蚂蚁及其复杂的种姓是研究环境变化如何影响基因功能的新兴模型。蚂蚁是高度可塑性的：在发育过程中，同一组基因可以由于环境而产生一系列替代性状变异。这背后是基因和激素的差异调节。总而言之，这在不同种姓的个人之间产生了与生殖、寿命和生长相关的巨大差异。Rajakumar博士实验室的研究目标是研究在发育和成年期间协调组织和器官相互交流的分子信号，这对于产生种姓特异性变异至关重要。在这项工作的同时，Rajakumar博士的实验室将使用密切相关的遗传模型果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）来研究这些信号的机制细节。通过利用新兴生物和模式生物，Rajakumar博士的实验室将能够产生和解决具有高分辨率机制细节的基本生物学重要性的新问题。Rajakumar博士的团队从北美各地收集了几种蚂蚁，并从世界各地产生和获得了数百种不同的黑腹果蝇基因株。为了维持（饲养）和进行体内实验（包括内分泌、发育遗传和基因组工程），需要专门的设备。 本RTI申请中要求的设备包括：（1）两个最先进的准确和精密的大型实验环境室;（2）一个同等准确和精密的中型实验环境室。这些环境室是高度可编程的，可以远程控制各种温度、湿度和光周期，并记录/记录环境参数。这种敏感的环境控制使实验室能够模拟蚂蚁的自然栖息地条件和转基因苍蝇的标准条件。Rajakumar实验室的HQP将能够饲养各种各样的蚂蚁物种，以询问进化发展背景下基因与环境相互作用和器官间通信的机制。与此同时，该设备将使他的HQP能够饲养需要一定温度范围的转基因果蝇，以严格控制与基因表达的时间和组织特异性敲低、基因过表达和基因突变相关的温度敏感性遗传元件，以进一步了解基因与环境相互作用和器官间通讯的基因组和激素基础。

Developmental and physiological variation observed in nature or in the clinic, is not the result of differences in genes alone. A wealth of data now demonstrates that genes and the environment (nutrition, carcinogens) together generate this variation. Ants, and their complex castes, are an emerging model for investigating how environmental variation influences gene function. Ants are highly plastic: during development, the same set of genes can give rise to an array of alternative trait variation due to the environment. Underlying this is the differential regulation of genes, and hormones. Altogether, this generates dramatic differences between individuals of different castes related to reproduction, longevity, and growth. The research goal of Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory is to investigate the molecular signals coordinating the intercommunication of tissues and organs during both development and adulthood, which are critical for generating caste-specific variation. In parallel to this work, Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory will investigate these signals in mechanistic detail using the closely related genetic model the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Collectively by leveraging both an emerging and model organism, Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory will be able to generate and tackle novel questions of fundamental biological importance with high-resolution mechanistic detail. Dr. Rajakumar's group collects several species of ants from across North America, and has both generated and acquired hundreds of different genetic strains of D.melanogaster from around the world. In order to maintain (husbandry) and conduct in vivo experiments (including endocrinological, developmental genetic, and genomic engineering), specialized equipment are required. The equipment requested in this RTI application comprises: (1) two state-of-the-art accurate and precise, large experimental environmental chambers; (2) one medium sized experimental environmental chamber of equal accuracy and precision. These environmental chambers are highly programmable and can be remotely controlled for a wide range of temperatures, humidity, and photoperiod, and for record/log keeping of environmental parameters. This sensitive environmental control enables the lab to simulate natural habitat conditions of the ants and standard conditions for transgenic flies. HQP of the Rajakumar lab will be able to rear a diverse array of ant species to interrogate the mechanisms underlying gene-by-environment interactions and interorgan communication in an evolutionary developmental context. In parallel, this equipment will enable his HQP to rear transgenic flies that require a range of temperatures in order to tightly control temperature-sensitive genetic elements relevant for temporal and tissue-specific knockdown of gene expression, overexpression of genes, and mutations of genes, to gain further insight into the genomic and hormonal basis of gene-by-environment interactions and interorgan communication.