IOS: Amylase genetics and biochemistry underlie a digestive specialization in prickleback fishes

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Studying the nutritional physiology of animals is important because we can gain insight into how animals survive on different diets. An emergent theme within the field of vertebrate nutritional physiology is the commonality of elevated biochemical activity of amylase, a carbohydrate-degrading digestive enzyme, in animals that consume plant material. Preliminary data suggest that herbivores and omnivores express more amylase genes than do carnivores, and that convergently-evolved herbivores express different suites of amylases. However, beyond consistent measurements of elevated amylase activities, the genetic underpinnings of this observation (i.e., the cause), or the functional consequences of investing in elevated amylase activities, remain elusive. Therefore, the goal of this study is to investigate the molecular and biochemical underpinnings of elevated amylase activities in a family of fishes with great dietary diversity, and to understand consequences of this enzymatic investment. This study will be important in our understanding of what an animal eats and why. As part of a series of dietary studies using prickleback fish, the studies supported by this award will: 1) use traditional and high-throughput molecular technologies to identify the number of amylase genes present in the genome, and being expressed at a given time (transcriptomics); 2) model the structure of, and characterize amylase biochemistry that may explain variation in amylase function, and 3) conduct feeding trials with pricklebacks to determine whether growth rate and fitness can be affected by differences in amylase machinery. The studies supported by this award will answer fundamental questions about the mechanisms underlying patterns in enzymatic activity, as well as potential metabolic and fitness consequences. This project will increase diversity in science by directly involving researchers from underrepresented groups and through an outreach program with a local high school with a 78% minority population. The results of this project will be published in international scientific journals and presented at conferences.