Research Starter Grant

研究启动补助金

• 批准号: 0625211
• 负责人: Suzanne Estes
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Portland State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-10-01 至 2007-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0625211&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Research; Starter; Grant

A major outstanding question in evolutionary biology asks how repeatable evolution is at the level of genes and at the level of phenotype (i.e., visible characteristics such as body size). In other words, if we could rewind the evolutionary clock and view the process again and again, would evolution lead to the same solutions to adaptive challenges each time? Dr. Estes will address these questions using the soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans. Previous work has shown that populations of these nematodes harboring many deleterious genetic mutations (and thus exhibiting reduced fitness) can rapidly recover fitness via the acquisition of secondary mutations that compensate for the original deleterious mutations. Dr. Estes will determine the identity of these underlying "compensatory" mutations, whether they occur in the same genetic pathways as the original mutations, and whether replicate populations take the same evolutionary route to fitness recovery (i.e., do populations tend to acquire the same compensatory mutations?). Experimental evolution, traditional genetic analyses, and microarray technology allowing measurement of the level of expression of individual genes will be employed to address the above questions. This work will integrate research and education through training of undergraduate researchers, including future science educators. Through involvement with American Indians in Science and Engineering and the Educational Equity Programs at Portland State University, undergraduate researchers are being sought to participate in this and other projects. Also, talented minority graduate students are being sought through advertising with the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center and the Evolution Directory. Dr. Estes will serve as co-advisor for a Master's of Science in Teaching student, an undergraduate researcher, and one postdoctoral associate assisting with this and other projects.

进化生物学中一个主要的悬而未决的问题是，在基因水平和表型水平上的可重复进化是如何进行的（即，可见的特征，如身体大小）。换句话说，如果我们可以倒回进化的时钟，一次又一次地观察这个过程，那么每次进化都会导致适应性挑战的相同解决方案吗？ 埃斯蒂斯博士将使用土壤线虫，秀丽隐杆线虫来解决这些问题。以前的工作表明，这些线虫的人口窝藏许多有害的基因突变（从而表现出降低健身）可以迅速恢复健身通过收购的二次突变，弥补原来的有害突变。Estes博士将确定这些潜在的“补偿”突变的身份，它们是否与原始突变发生在相同的遗传途径中，以及复制种群是否采取相同的进化路线来恢复适应性（即，种群是否倾向于获得相同的补偿突变？）。实验进化、传统遗传分析和允许测量单个基因表达水平的微阵列技术将用于解决上述问题。这项工作将通过培训本科研究人员，包括未来的科学教育工作者，将研究和教育结合起来。通过与美国印第安人一起参与波特兰州立大学的科学和工程以及教育平等方案，正在寻求本科研究人员参与这一项目和其他项目。此外，有才华的少数民族研究生正在寻找通过广告与国家进化综合中心和进化目录。Estes博士将担任教学科学硕士学生，本科研究员和一名博士后助理的共同顾问，协助这个项目和其他项目。