NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: The neurocircuitry of spider web-building

Artiushin, Gregory, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the Fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Understanding complex behaviors occurring over long time scales is a substantial challenge in neuroscience. Orb-web weaving spiders present a unique example of animal construction that is an innate behavior (encoded in the genome) performed by an animal with a relatively small and easy to study nervous system. A web is a record of a spider’s movements (as it trails silk) and follows simple geometric rules with few sensory inputs. Despite this simplicity, the neuroscience of spider web-building has received limited attention. This project uses the hackled orb-weaver, Uloborus diversus, as a model organism for creating a map of the spider’s brain that identifies the neurocircuitry that controls web-building. Orb-web building is a readily understandable behavior, and the non-venomous U. diversus (and its webs) can be easily transported for public introductions to spider behavioral neuroscience; the Fellow will pursue teaching and outreach opportunities in science museums and in the Baltimore school district using this unique feature of the study system. The aims of this project are to reveal the circuitry governing orb web-building in U. diversus by 1) establishing a brain atlas of the major neurotransmitter/neuromodulator systems through immunohistochemistry, 2) imaging expression of a putative immediate-early gene homolog by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to mark active neuronal populations at different stages of web-building, and 3) investigating the expression and behavioral influence of ecdysone, a candidate signaling molecule in this system. The Fellow will gain training in spider neurobiology, and the application of modern molecular techniques such as small molecule FISH to whole-mount brain preparations in this novel model. Furthermore, this project will provide experience with computational methods, including the use of alignment and registration algorithms in creating a spider brain atlas, and familiarity with machine vision and deep learning, which is relied upon for analysis of spider behavior and web construction. Pursuit of these aims will provide opportunities for mentorship, including with undergraduates who will be annotating an anatomical data set to be incorporated into the atlas. The completed atlas will be made publicly available and serve as a foundational tool and entry-point for other researchers interested in spider neuroscience. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.