Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Developmental and physiological variation observed in nature or in the clinic, is not the result of differences in genes alone. A wealth of data now demonstrates that genes and the environment (nutrition, carcinogens) together generate this variation. Ants, and their complex castes, are an emerging model for investigating how environmental variation influences gene function. Ants are highly plastic: during development, the same set of genes can give rise to an array of alternative trait variation due to the environment. Underlying this is the differential regulation of genes, and hormones. Altogether, this generates dramatic differences between individuals of different castes related to reproduction, longevity, and growth. The research goal of Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory is to investigate the molecular signals coordinating the intercommunication of tissues and organs during both development and adulthood, which are critical for generating caste-specific variation. In parallel to this work, Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory will investigate these signals in mechanistic detail using the closely related genetic model the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Collectively by leveraging both an emerging and model organism, Dr. Rajakumar's laboratory will be able to generate and tackle novel questions of fundamental biological importance with high-resolution mechanistic detail. Dr. Rajakumar's group collects several species of ants from across North America, and has both generated and acquired hundreds of different genetic strains of D.melanogaster from around the world. In order to maintain (husbandry) and conduct in vivo experiments (including endocrinological, developmental genetic, and genomic engineering), specialized equipment are required. The equipment requested in this RTI application comprises: (1) two state-of-the-art accurate and precise, large experimental environmental chambers; (2) one medium sized experimental environmental chamber of equal accuracy and precision. These environmental chambers are highly programmable and can be remotely controlled for a wide range of temperatures, humidity, and photoperiod, and for record/log keeping of environmental parameters. This sensitive environmental control enables the lab to simulate natural habitat conditions of the ants and standard conditions for transgenic flies. HQP of the Rajakumar lab will be able to rear a diverse array of ant species to interrogate the mechanisms underlying gene-by-environment interactions and interorgan communication in an evolutionary developmental context. In parallel, this equipment will enable his HQP to rear transgenic flies that require a range of temperatures in order to tightly control temperature-sensitive genetic elements relevant for temporal and tissue-specific knockdown of gene expression, overexpression of genes, and mutations of genes, to gain further insight into the genomic and hormonal basis of gene-by-environment interactions and interorgan communication.