Environmental genomics of water conservation in a desert-adapted rodent

We will explore the mechanisms that enable a desert adapted rodent species (the Lesser Egyptian
Jerboa) is able to survive in its harsh, arid environment without needing to drink water. Whilst water
balance is aggressively defended in all terrestrial animals, this is all the more so in those species that
thrive in the desert. Water conservation is particularly vital for survival in the desert and, in the Jerboa,
this is achieved through the production of a low volume of highly concentrated urine, especially
following dehydration. This is controlled by a hormone called arginine vasopressin (AVP), which is
made in a specialised part of the brain. AVP interacts with specific receptor targets located in the
kidney to promote water reabsorption. We will carry out a detailed analysis of the brain and kidney
mechanisms that enable the Lesser Egyptian Jerboa to survive in the desert. We will subject animals
to dehydration, then measure the expression of genes and proteins (particularly hormones) in the
brain and kidney. These data will then be subjected to mathematical analyses that will allow is to
identify genes that we think are key to the survival of the animal. These data will be compared to
existing datasets derived rodents living in more clement climates (rats and mice). Thus, these studies
will be of great interest to evolutionary and comparative biologists. Further, our studies may well
interest environmentalists, ecologists and geographers, in the context of climate change and
desertification.