Examining the impacts of aging and the microbiome on the physiology of geothermally adapted populations of stickleback

Dr Kevin Parsons, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine (University of Glasgow

Dr Alexandre Benedetto, Faculty of Health and Medicine (University of Lancaster)

Dr Neal Dawson, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine (University of Glasgow

Summary

The impact of climate change on natural populations will be immense and require adaptive changes to cope. This will be particularly important for ectotherms that are directly impacted by temperature for metabolic processes. Taking advantage of natural populations of threespine sticklebacks that have adapted to geothermally-warmed habitats this project will examine the metabolic mechanisms underlying their adaptive strategies. To achive this the PhD project will address three main objectives including: 

 

  1. Testing whether metabolic divergence incurs changes in the aging process 
  1. Assessing the contribution of the microbiome to metabolic divergence  
  1. Determining what genes are involved in determining metabolic phenotypes 

 

The student will perform experiments on both wild and lab-reared sticklebacks to assay the changes and tradeoffs involved with metabolic changes. They will learn and perform cutting-edge physiological assays to assess aging, mitochondrial function, enzyme kinetics, and DNA damage. They will also perform experiments that alter the microbial composition of host sticklebacks to determine the influence of the microbiome on these processes. Finally, the student will map the loci responsible for variation in metabolism. Together this will provide a more complete picture of the mechanisms involved in adaptations to a warming world. This will have broad implications for evolution, physiology, and biodiversity management.