NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

这一行动为NSF 2008财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持Jason C.Slot的一项研究和培训计划，该计划的标题是“真菌基因簇的起源、排序和遗传的动力学和生态学意义”。这项研究的主办机构是范德比尔特大学，赞助科学家是安东尼斯·罗卡斯博士。基因在基因组中的位置可能在基因的整体功能和进化以及有机体的生态中发挥作用。例如，在真菌中，协同工作的基因通常在基因组中并排定位，似乎是为了更容易协调基因的功能。这一点很重要，因为这些基因的功能与真菌如何发挥作用或导致包括人类在内的动植物疾病有关。这种紧密相连的基因，即所谓的“基因簇”，其进化过程还不是很清楚。有时基因簇可以从一种真菌转移到另一种无关的真菌，然后获得致病或转移到新的生态位的能力。这项研究正在研究基因簇是如何在真菌中产生和进化的，以及它们在不相关的真菌之间转移的频率。培训目标包括发展生物编程和基因组探索方面的技能，以解决真菌基因组进化的这些基本但研究不足的问题。更广泛的影响包括新的科学知识和教育活动。正在开发的生物信息学工具将广泛适用于其他生物的基因组研究；这项研究的具体发现将有助于改进管理真菌疾病的战略，特别是在森林生态系统中。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Dynamics and ecological significance of the origins, order and inheritance of fungal gene clusters" for Jason C. Slot. The host institution for this research is Vanderbilt University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Antonis Rokas. The location of genes in a genome may play a role in the gene's overall function and evolution and the ecology of the organism. For example, in fungi, genes that work together are often located side-by-side in the genome seemingly to make it easier to coordinate the genes' functions. This is important because the functions of these genes relate to how a fungus functions or causes diseases of plants and animals, including humans. The evolution of such closely linked genes, called "gene clusters", is not well understood. Sometimes gene clusters can be transferred from one fungus to another unrelated fungus, which then gains the ability to cause disease or move to a new ecological niche. This research is investigating how gene clusters arise and evolve in fungi and how often they are transferred between unrelated fungi. The training goals include developing the skills in biological programming and genome exploration to address such fundamental, yet under-studied, questions of fungal genome evolution. Broader impacts include new scientific knowledge and educational activities. The bioinformatics tools being developed will be broadly applicable to other organisms as their genomes are studied; and the specific findings of this research will contribute to improved strategies of managing fungal diseases, especially in forest ecosystems.