NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015 (PRFB)

这项行动资助了2015财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，使用生物收集的研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，以采取变革性方法应对生物学的重大挑战，以高度创新的方式利用生物学收藏。 Laura Lagomarsino的研究计划的标题是“解开安第斯生物多样性热点快速植物进化的非生物和生物驱动因素”。"该研究金的主办机构是圣路易斯的密苏里州大学和（瑞典）哥德堡大学，赞助科学家是Nathan Muchhala和Alexandre Antonelli。 该研究金是与国际科学和工程办公室共同资助的。 形成国际合作不仅有利于在国外进行研究的年轻科学家，而且也符合美国的国家利益，因为在一个世界级研究机构的经历使下一代科学领导人接触到东道国在国家方面所能提供的最好的东西。艺术研究和继续合作的承诺，将继续加强美国科学在未来。南美洲的安第斯山脉是家庭对异常高水平的生物多样性，包括六分之一的植物物种。新热带地区的550种风铃草属Centropogon，Burmeistera和Siphocampylus只是这种多样性的一小部分，但却是安第斯山脉最大的辐射之一。蜂鸟和蝙蝠为这些物种授粉，这些物种构成了云雾森林植物群中色彩缤纷、引人注目的元素。在密苏里州植物园和哥德堡大学的标本馆收藏正在被用来解开最近的相对作用，戏剧性的山建设和蝙蝠和鸟类传粉者之间的转变在产生新热带区风铃草的杰出多样性。首先，有必要推断出一个强大的同源性，或进化关系的模式。 所使用的特定方法（Hyb-Seq）即使在DNA质量和浓度较低时也是有效的，使植物标本成为遗传信息的主要来源。地质学在多大程度上影响了新热带区风铃草的多样化，然后使用安第斯山脉隆起，生态位建模和系统发育年代测定方法的模型进行了研究，这些结果是由化石花粉芯数据验证。最后，宏观和微观进化的影响传粉者的转变正在调查使用的方法，从比较遗传学，传粉生态学和种群遗传学。该研究的微进化部分将广泛的昼夜授粉观察与基因流的量化结合起来，这是一个假定的由蝙蝠到蜂鸟授粉介导的同域物种形成的案例。由于该研究是广泛的跨学科研究，培训目标是整合植物遗传学，地质学，授粉生态学和种群遗传学的技术和观点。该研究员正在开发一个适合K-12学生的脊椎动物授粉教育模块，作为密苏里州植物园面向家庭的夏季节目的一部分。此外，该研究员正在开发和维护一个网站，向公众和对该群体特别感兴趣的研究人员提供新热带区风铃草活体和植物标本馆标本的高分辨率数字图像;这将是对桔梗科工作组网站的补充。该奖学金涉及美国，欧洲和拉丁美洲研究人员的合作。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2015, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow to take transformative approaches to grand challenges in biology that employ biological collections in highly innovative ways. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Laura Lagomarsino is "Disentangling the abiotic and biotic drivers of rapid plant evolution in the Andean biodiversity hotspot." The host institutions for this fellowship are the University of Missouri, St. Louis and the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), and the sponsoring scientists are Nathan Muchhala and Alexandre Antonelli. This fellowship is funded jointly with the Office of International Science and Engineering. Forming international collaborations is not only beneficial to the young scientist who conducts research at the foreign location, but is also in the U.S. national interest because that experience in a world-class research organization exposes the next generation of science leaders to the best the host country has to offer in terms of state-of-the-art research and the promises of continuing collaborations that will continue to strengthen U.S. science in the future.The Andean mountain chains of South America are home to exceptionally high levels of biodiversity, including one-sixth of all plant species. The 550 species of Neotropical bellflowers in the genera Centropogon, Burmeistera, and Siphocampylus represent just a small fraction of this diversity, but are one of the single largest Andean radiations. Hummingbirds and bats pollinate these species, which comprise a colorful and conspicuous element of the cloud forest flora. The herbarium collections at the Missouri Botanical Garden and the University of Gothenburg are being used to disentangle the relative roles that recent, dramatic mountain building and shifts between bat and bird pollinators have played in generating the outstanding diversity of Neotropical bellflowers. First it is necessary to infer a robust phylogeny, or pattern of evolutionary relationships. The specific method utilized (Hyb-Seq) is effective even when DNA quality and concentration are low, allowing herbarium specimens to be the primary source of genetic information. The extent to which geology has impacted diversification in the Neotropical bellflowers is then being investigated using models of Andean uplift, ecological niche modeling, and phylogenetic dating methods; these results are validated by fossil pollen core data. Finally, macro- and microevolutionary implications of pollinator shifts are being investigated using methods from comparative phylogenetics, pollination ecology, and population genetics. The microevolutionary component of the study couples extensive diurnal and nocturnal pollination observations with the quantification of gene flow in a putative case of sympatric speciation mediated by a shift from bat to hummingbird pollination.As the research is broadly interdisciplinary, training goals are to integrate techniques and viewpoints from phylogenetics, geology, pollination ecology, and population genetics. The Fellow is developing an educational module on vertebrate pollination suitable for K-12 students to be implemented as part of Missouri Botanical Garden's summer programming geared toward families. Additionally, the Fellow is developing and maintaining a website that makes high-resolution digital images of living and herbarium specimens of Neotropical bellflowers available to both the general public and researchers with specific interest in the group; this will be in addition to maintaining the Campanulaceae Working Group website. This Fellowship involves collaboration of researchers based in the US, Europe, and Latin America.