| 项目编号: | 1701617
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| 项目名称: | Dissertation Research: Investigating the role of the maternally-inherited microbiota in dung beetle development and niche construction |
| 作者: | Armin Moczek
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| 承担单位: | Indiana University
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| 批准年: | 2017
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| 开始日期: | 2017-06-01
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| 结束日期: | 2018-05-31
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| 资助金额: | 18720
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| 资助来源: | US-NSF
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| 项目类别: | Standard Grant
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| 国家: | US
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| 语种: | 英语
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| 特色学科分类: | Biological Sciences - Environmental Biology
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| 英文关键词: | dung beetle
; researcher
; dung
; dung ball
; niche construction
; development
; research
; developmental environment
; undergraduate research assistant
; developmental outcome
; maternally-inherited microbiota
; beetle larva
|
| 英文摘要: | Organisms change their surroundings in a variety of beneficial ways. Examples include construction of physical structures, such as nests, and techniques to process or store food. Dung beetles are especially skilled at food storage. Females roll dung from large animals into a ball, inoculate it with special microbes (bacteria), lay their eggs in it, and burry it in the soil. This study will examine the types of microbes deposited by the mother and how they help young dung beetles get nutrients from the dung. Understanding how species like dung beetles can modify their environments may be crucial to understanding how they can buffer themselves against environmental changes. This research also contributes to the training of a graduate student and the mentoring of undergraduate research assistants and high school students.
This research will use larval dung beetles in the genus Onthophagus as a novel system for investigating (i) the developmental, ecological, and evolutionary consequences of niche construction, and (ii) the mechanisms by which beetle larvae actively modify their developmental environment (a ball of dung), with particular focus on the role of maternally-inherited microbial symbionts. First, the researchers will experimentally assess the degree to which known outcomes of larval niche construction (e.g., enhanced growth) can be explained by the presence of maternally-inherited microbiota in dung balls. Second, the researchers will use a biochemical technique to begin assessing the metabolic capabilities of the microbiota, hypothesizing that the gut and dung ball microbiota may break down complex macromolecules (e.g. cellulose) that are otherwise indigestible by larvae. Finally, the researchers will perform 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing on larval guts and dung balls to characterize the dung beetle microbiota and identify those microbial taxa that are associated with enhanced developmental outcomes. More generally, this work will advance understanding of the causes and consequences of niche construction in development and evolution, and will shed light on the importance of microbes in the nutrition and development of organisms. |
| 资源类型: | 项目
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| 标识符: | http://119.78.100.158/handle/2HF3EXSE/90117
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| Appears in Collections: | 全球变化的国际研究计划
科学计划与规划
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| Recommended Citation: | |
Armin Moczek. Dissertation Research: Investigating the role of the maternally-inherited microbiota in dung beetle development and niche construction. 2017-01-01.
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