NSF Award
0122393
A grant has been awarded to Dr. Eric R. Lacy at the Medical University of South Carolina to fund equipment for studying the genetic responses of marine organisms to environmental stress. Increased pressure on the coastal environment has focused attention on how marine organisms respond to this stress. It has long been known that animals defend themselves against environmental insults through hundreds if not thousands of molecular and cellular responses. Until recently scientists had to laboriously measure each response of individual animals to various environmental challenges to try to understand which physiological systems (e.g., immune, respiratory, reproductive) were protected and which had failed. With the advent of molecular genetics, scientists have new tools to look at genes and determine which ones are turned off and turned on when the animals are environmentally stressed. <br/><br/>However, there are tens of thousands of genes and examining them manually, a few at a time, would take years to get the answers needed. The gene arrayer and reader obtained from this grant will be used by the Marine Genome Project in Charleston, SC, to simultaneously examine thousands of genes from shrimp, oysters, dolphins, stingrays, corals, and algae. The experimental goals of this group are to use "functional genomics" (changes in gene expression correlated with changes in marine environmental stress) to: 1) find early genetic markers of stress in marine organisms, 2) use the genetic information to diagnose and predict the particular stress or infection the animal may have, 3) identify new genes that might protect these marine animals from infection and stress, and 4) detect interactions among genes. Expressed genes are isolated from target tissues in the animals before, during and after stress. Then a comparison is made for each animal to see which genes are turned on and which are turned off under each of these conditions. <br/><br/>The results of these studies will show which genes are important in an animal's defense mechanisms. These findings have broad implications for environmental and human health because the two are intimately linked. For example, early genetic changes in an organism may predict changes occurring in the environment that cannot be monitored in any other way. This information also should help selective marine animal breeding programs for aquatic food suppliers. Furthermore, the information from this study should assist scientists in better understanding the mechanisms of the current world-wide decline of coral reefs. The equipment purchased under this award will reside in the newly constructed Hollings Marine Lab, an inter-institutional lab that houses all partners of the Marine Genome Project and the College of Charleston. Students at all levels (high school, undergraduate and graduate) will be trained to use this equipment through internships.
