Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2001

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This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY2001. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for a recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden his/her scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations. The research and training plan is entitled "Molecular studies of microbial coevolution and endosymbiosis in a complex assemblage of hosts." Chewing lice that infect birds harbor endosymbiotic bacteria (putatively Rickettsia) in specialized cells. Lice probably require these bacteria for digestion of the feathers on which they live. Selected nucleic acids are being sequenced to correctly place these bacteria in a phylogeny. Rates of evolution are being compared and cophylogeny with their hosts is being tested. Finally, the effect of endosymbiosis on nucleotide sequence evolution is being evaluated.