NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2010

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This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2010. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Evolution of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genetic interaction network" for Janna Fierst. The host institution for this research is University of Oregon, and the sponsoring scientist is Patrick Phillips.A central problem in biology concerns defining how genetic information and molecular processes are integrated to produce an organism. This requires understanding how selection, genetic drift and mutation shape the evolution of the genotype-phenotype map. Genomics and systems biological studies are rapidly producing data on the mechanisms underlying the genetic system. Most evolutionary theory, however, was developed before the advent of molecular genetics and the discovery that genes commonly interact in networks. Without additional theory to take such interactions into account, these data cannot be understood in an evolutionary framework and we cannot identify meaningful patterns. This project uses data on genetic interactions and gene expression in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae synthetic lethal genetic interaction network to build a theoretical model of network evolution. This model is being used to analyze the influence of selection, drift and mutation on network changes that are observed between two different strains of S. cerevisiae and the related yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.Specific training goals include increasing bioinformatics and computational skills, and gaining familiarity with publicly available genomic and systems biological datasets. The broader impacts include creating a public database integrating gene expression and genetic interactions in S. cerevisiae, distributing a network evolution model, and training undergraduates in bioinformatics and computational biology through the University of Oregon summer program for undergraduate research (SPUR). The results expand evolutionary genetics theory and provide a theoretical framework in which genomic and systems biological patterns can be associated with evolutionary processes.