Molecular and cellular basis of IR-mediated thermo- and hygrosensing in Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae

Diverse animals evolved specialized sensory systems to sense and respond to their specific environmental and behavioral niche. Sampling a wide range of biological systems and in particular analyzing sensory specialists, has given great insights into fundamental principles of sensory adaptation and evolution. Such systems have been studied for many years, yielding fundamental biological insight. However, until recently, molecular understanding of a wide range of sensory systems has been restricted to genetically traceable model organisms. Recent advances in genome/transcriptome sequencing technologies, as well as genome editing technologies have made it possible to investigate sensory specializations also in non-model organisms. Indeed, in recent years the available genomes of different animal species have significantly expanded, with EnsemblMetazoa in its current release listing up to 77 different species. These resources allow the comparison of genetic profiles among a larger number of species and especially in specific tissues/cells. By combining single cell and protein functional approaches, these genetic techniques enable us to pose old questions from a new angle. For example, by pairing comparative genomic studies with functional native measurements, we can narrow down to single molecules for further analyses using physiological, structural, and/or behavioral techniques. This approach has recently been successfully employed by Dr. Bellono to identify receptors and ion channels responsible for electroreception in fishes and chemo transduction in gut epithelium (Bellono et al. 2017; Bellono, Leitch, and Julius 2017, 2018). These studies can also be extended by further studying orthologues and paralogues to shed light on how the expansion of specific gene families has led to unique adaptation. Here, this research will expand the analysis to the Octopus, an incredible sensory specialist and who possess numerous sensory neurons localized in its arms that allow it to sample the environment and carry out autonomous behaviors. Preliminary results show that neurons can be identified, and activity measurements be performed in cell suspension and that single cell transcriptomics applied to these cells yields information to subgroup cell types. Analysis and comparison of individual channels and receptors of the Octopus will help us to understand how this and other animals adapt to their unique environment.

Project Details

Basic Science

Aug 2018 — Jan 2020

$75,544

United States