BE/GEN-EN: Development of Methods Linking Genomic and Ecological Responses in a Freshwater Sentinel Species

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT Previous studies assessing the impact of environmental stresses on ecosystems have typically focused on either the individual or population level. However, there is growing awareness that to more fully understand and predict environmental impacts on natural systems, one must link biological responses to environmental challenges across different levels of biological organization. The overall goal of this study is to integrate the genomic and population-level responses of a model sentinel species in aquatic systems (Daphnia pulex) to specific environmental stresses by developing and applying genomic tools to ecological studies. Natural populations of aquatic organisms are known to survive and even adapt to sub-lethal metal exposures, but little is known about the genomic basis of this response. Metal exposures typical of those encountered in aquatic environments will be studied to characterize the physiological, demographic, and adaptive responses of Daphnia in naive and metal pre-conditioned populations. This project has the following specific aims: 1) identification and characterization of the expressed genome of D. pulex and development of genomic resources for application in ecological studies, 2) characterization of the genomic and population-level responses of D. pulex to a range of exposure conditions studies using individual metals as model stressors, 3) assessment of whether the effects of metal combinations on genomic and population level responses combine in a linear or non-linear fashion, 4) characterization of genetic and ecological variation in response to metals among natural populations of Daphnia. A strong interdisciplinary team of researchers including specialists in ecology, toxicology, genomics, evolution, and statistics will conduct this research. The anticipated benefits of this research will be to provide tools for rapid, sensitive and specific assessment of environmental effects in natural systems.