This Postdoctoral Research Fellowship award to Dr. Christopher R. Friesen is supported by both the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Office of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation. During the 24-month fellowship, Dr. Friesen will work on a project titled, "The Currency of Compromise: Oxidative stress and energetic demands mediate trade-offs in selected traits in color-polymorphic male lizards," under the sponsorship of Professor Mats Olsson at the University of Sydney, Australia.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are natural products of metabolic processes in the cells of all organisms, which may damage DNA, proteins and cell membranes. ROS production may be a physiological mechanism that underlies evolutionary trade-offs between traits such as those involved in securing mates and securing fertilizations. However, it is not known whether ROS production and/or the innate ability to detoxify ROS in the face of increased energetic demands mediate these types of trade-off in any organism. In this project, Dr. Friesen will study these evolutionary trade-offs in a species of lizard (Ctenophorus pictus) which lives only one year and thus sacrifices longevity for reproductive output. The oxidative stress of both males and females will be experimentally manipulated to test whether males with lowered oxidative stress are better sperm competitors, and whether females with lowered oxidative stress can store sperm for longer periods. Furthermore, the correlations between energetic expenditure, oxidative stress, aggression and the production of numerous, high quality sperm will be investigated.
Video dairies documenting the progress of this research will be produced and posted online to engage the general public's curiosity of how science is conducted. This award provides a unique opportunity for a US scientist to collaborate with foreign scientists, and utilize the unique facilities, expertise and experimental conditions available abroad.
