U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: An Insect-Microorganism-Plant System in Australia

9512767 Starmer本奖项将资助锡拉丘兹大学生物系William Starmer博士和Larry Wolf博士与澳大利亚新南威尔士州阿米代尔市新英格兰大学动物科学系J.S.F. Barker教授进行合作研究的旅费。这项工作的重点将包括对澳大利亚独特的昆虫-微生物-植物系统的实地研究。该系统涉及生活在本地芙蓉花中的果蝇。苍蝇依靠生长在闭合花朵中的酵母提供的营养，而三种酵母依靠苍蝇运输到新开放的花朵上。蝇和酵母之间的互惠互利使这个系统适合于生态和进化遗传学的研究。这些研究将包括调查果蝇和微生物的种群遗传结构，果蝇生殖特征的决定因素，以及酵母的群落生态学。这项合作研究将在群体遗传学、微生物生态学和行为生态学领域具有互补兴趣和技能的研究人员聚集在一起。澳大利亚的这项工作得到了工业、科学和技术部（DIST）在美澳合作科学计划下的支持。

9512767 Starmer This award will support the travel costs for Dr. William Starmer and Dr. Larry Wolf from the Biology Department at Syracuse University to conduct collaborative research with Prof. J.S.F. Barker of the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. The focus of this work will involve field studies of a unique insect-microorganism-plant system in Australia. The system involves drosophilid flies that live in native Hibiscus flowers. The flies rely on nutrients provided by yeasts that grow in the closed blossoms, while thee yeasts rely on the flies for transport to newly opened flowers. The mutual benefits between fly and yeast make this system appropriate for studies on ecological and evolutionary genetics. The studies will include investigations of the population genetic structure of flies and microbes, the determinants of reproductive characteristics in the flies, and the community ecology of the yeasts. This cooperative research bpings together investigators with complementary interests and skills in the fields of population genetics, microbial ecology and behavioral ecology. The work in Australia is supported through the Department of Industry, Science and Technology (DIST) under the US-Australia Cooperative Science Program.