DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Genome-wide SNP genotyping to identify candidate loci responsible for divergence in temperature performance within a population of thermophilic cyanobacteria

进化生物学的一个核心目标是理解生态多样性是如何在自然种群中产生和维持的。黄石国家公园的白色溪是蓝细菌--层状鞭枝藻（Mastigocladus laminosus）种群的家园，这种细菌沿着37至55ºC的温度梯度生长。虽然大部分基因组在遗传上是相同的，但种群中有一些成员已经专门化并适应了沿着小溪不同的温度区。这项研究采用了一种创新的方法，使用基因组数据来识别负责人口内自然变异的基因的强有力的候选者，并且与温度相关。由此确定的基因可以阐明参与热适应的基因的类型、功能和数量。关于生态位如何在种群中发展的基本问题是：1）涉及什么样的基因，调节或蛋白质编码？2)基因编码什么？（3）有多少基因参与其中？这项研究的独特重点是自然人口面临一个明确的环境梯度，允许一个强大的分析之间的关联遗传组成和环境变量。蒙大拿大学的介绍性多元文化夏季本科生研究经验和HHMI支持的蒙大拿州学生综合学习经验的本科生研究人员已经并将继续有机会在实验室进行这项研究。这项研究将开发一个关于微生物学和进化的教育模块，供国际生态项目使用，该项目吸引了来自美国和拉丁美洲各地的高中生到黄石国家公园学习。

A central goal of evolutionary biology is understanding how ecological diversity arises and is maintained in natural populations. White Creek, in Yellowstone National Park, is home to a population of the cyanobacterium, Mastigocladus laminosus, which grows along a thermal gradient of 37 to 55ºC. While genetically identical for much of the genome, the population has members that have specialized and adapted to live at different temperature zones along creek. This study takes an innovative approach using genomic data to identify strong candidates for genes responsible for natural variation within the population and that are temperature associated. Genes thus identified can shed light on the type, function, and number of genes involved in thermal adaptation. Fundamental questions regarding how ecological niches develop in populations are: 1) what kind of genes are involved, regulatory or protein encoding? 2) What do the genes encode? and 3) How many genes are involved? This study's unique focus on a natural population facing a well defined environmental gradient, allows a robust analysis of associations between genetic makeup and the environmental variable. Undergraduate researchers in the University of Montana's Introductory Multicultural Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and the HHMI supported Montana Integrative Learning Experience for Students have had and will continue to have opportunities to work in the lab on this study. An educational module on microbiology and evolution will be developed from this study for use by Ecology Project International, which draws high school students from all over the U.S. and Latin America to Yellowstone NP.