This U.S.-Argentina award will support Dr. David W. Towle, Mount Desert Island Laboratory (MDIBL) to work with Dr. Carlos M. Luquet of the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina.
This project will consist of a state-of-the-art examination of the sodium pump and its role and regulation during adaptation to salinity change in crabs. They will study the mechanisms by which two species of euryhaline crabs, Carcinus maenas from the North Atlantic and Chasmagnathus granulatus from South America, are able to regulate the osmotic concentration of their hemolymph in a varying estuarine environment. The proposed studies have the opportunity to advance our understanding of the ion transport control in invertebrates with the potential to help fisheries, conservation and aquaculture.
Dr. Towle has expertise in genomics and molecular biology, while Dr. Luquet has complementary skills in electrophysiology and experimental biology. This combination of molecular and organismal/physiological approach will bring new relevance and insight into both disciplines.
