Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

My research program is targeted at understanding the molecular and physiological processes used by aquatic animals to survive in changing, often stressful environments. Daily and seasonal fluctuations in temperature and oxygen pose particular problems for fish because their body conditions change with the environment. The nature of my proposed research is to evaluate how primary reactions to environmental stress at the level of the whole animal, such as changes in metabolism and hormones, interact with stress-induced changes in genes and proteins to facilitate stress tolerance. I intend to use the powerful molecular biology technology of short interference RNA (siRNA) on fish blood cells to 'knock down' the expression of specific stress-induced genes. This will provide fish physiologists with a cutting edge research tool to study the functional significance of many proteins. The use of blood as a tissue to assess stress is noteworthy as it provides a means to non-terminally sample fish in the wild. As global temperatures increase, knowledge of the molecular and physiological mechanisms underpinning the capacity of fish to maintain key biological functions, will help to make informed predictions regarding the impact of climate change on aquatic populations and ecosystems. Given the decline of fish stocks in Canada and worldwide, this insight is of great economic as well as scientific interest.