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Dissertation Research: Genetic and Environmental Mechanisms Mediating Disease Resistance and Tolerance in Amphibians

论文研究：介导两栖动物抗病性和耐受性的遗传和环境机制

基本信息

批准号：
1310036
负责人：
Jed Sparks
金额：
$ 2.08万
依托单位：
Cornell University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2013-07-01 至 2015-06-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1310036&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Dissertation Research Genetic Environmental Mechanisms

项目摘要

Identifying the causes of recurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases in the wild is critical to understanding human and ecosystem health. Environmental change may reduce the ability of hosts to evolve resistance or persist within their tolerance limits, thus making pathogens more likely to cause disease and mortality. This project investigates seasonally variable patterns of infection in tropical amphibians and tests the hypotheses that disease patterns are a consequence of changes in the frequency of individuals that have genetically-based resistance to the pathogen, or alternatively, a result of a weakened host condition caused by environmental stress. Frogs lacking genetic determinants may also rely on environmental modulators (e.g., symbiotic bacteria) to alleviate pathogen damage. How and when these immune strategies interact to allow amphibians to persist emergent diseases is unknown. Using declining frog populations in Puerto Rico that exhibit high heterogeneity and seasonality in infection dynamics, the PIs combine population genomics and metagenomics to determine how environmental and host adaptive responses affect the outcome of disease. The topic of amphibian declines, and its implications for environmental health, has reached public awareness; thus this project offers an excellent opportunity to educate non-scientists about genetics, immunity, and disease ecology. Both PIs disseminate their scientific findings to general audiences through media, educational outreach, and NGOs. In addition, the project involves students and researchers from underrepresented minorities, fosters collaborations between USA and Puerto Rican institutions, and increases diversity among students interested in ecology, evolution, and conservation. These results can be used by conservation agencies in species prioritization schemes and captive breeding programs.

确定野生传染病反复爆发的原因对于了解人类和生态系统的健康至关重要。环境变化可能会降低宿主进化出抵抗力或在其耐受限度内持续存在的能力，从而使病原体更有可能引起疾病和死亡。该项目研究了热带两栖动物季节性变化的感染模式，并检验了以下假设：疾病模式是对病原体具有遗传抵抗力的个体频率变化的结果，或者是环境压力导致宿主状况减弱的结果。缺乏遗传决定因素的青蛙也可能依赖环境调节剂（例如共生细菌）来减轻病原体的损害。这些免疫策略如何以及何时相互作用以使两栖动物持续出现突发疾病尚不清楚。利用波多黎各青蛙种群数量下降的感染动态表现出高度异质性和季节性，PI 结合种群基因组学和宏基因组学来确定环境和宿主适应性反应如何影响疾病的结果。两栖动物数量减少的话题及其对环境健康的影响已引起公众的关注；因此，该项目为非科学家提供了一个极好的机会，让他们了解遗传学、免疫学和疾病生态学。两位 PI 都通过媒体、教育推广和非政府组织向普通受众传播他们的科学发现。此外，该项目还涉及来自代表性不足的少数族裔的学生和研究人员，促进美国和波多黎各机构之间的合作，并增加对生态、进化和保护感兴趣的学生的多样性。这些结果可以被保护机构用于物种优先计划和圈养繁殖计划。