NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2015 (PRFB)

本行动资助美国国家科学基金会2015年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，使研究员能够以高度创新的方式采用生物收集的变革性方法来应对生物学方面的重大挑战。Laura Lagomarsino的研究计划的题目是“解开安第斯生物多样性热点地区植物快速进化的非生物和生物驱动因素”。该奖学金的主办机构是密苏里大学圣路易斯分校和哥德堡大学（瑞典），赞助科学家是Nathan Muchhala和Alexandre Antonelli。该奖学金由国际科学与工程办公室联合资助。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，因为在世界级研究机构的经历使下一代科学领袖能够接触到东道国在最先进的研究方面所提供的最好的东西，以及继续合作的承诺，这些合作将继续加强美国未来的科学。南美洲的安第斯山脉拥有极高的生物多样性，包括全球六分之一的植物物种。新热带风铃花属（centrropogon属，Burmeistera属，Siphocampylus属）的550种只是这种多样性的一小部分，但却是安第斯山脉最大的单一辐射之一。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斑斓、引人注目的元素。密苏里植物园（Missouri Botanical Garden）和哥德堡大学（University of Gothenburg）的植物标本馆藏品，正被用来厘清最近引人注目的造山运动，以及蝙蝠和鸟类传粉者之间的转变，在新热带风铃花的显著多样性产生过程中所扮演的相对角色。首先，有必要推断出一个健全的系统发育，或进化关系的模式。使用的特定方法（Hyb-Seq）即使在DNA质量和浓度较低的情况下也是有效的，使植物标本馆标本成为遗传信息的主要来源。利用安第斯隆起模型、生态位模型和系统发育测年方法，研究地质对新热带风铃花多样性的影响程度；这些结果得到了花粉核化石资料的验证。最后，利用比较系统遗传学、传粉生态学和群体遗传学的方法，研究了传粉媒介转移的宏观和微观进化意义。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，在一个假定的同域物种形成的案例中，由蝙蝠授粉转向蜂鸟授粉。由于研究是广泛的跨学科，培训目标是整合系统发育、地质学、授粉生态学和群体遗传学的技术和观点。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，作为密苏里植物园面向家庭的夏季项目的一部分实施。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风铃花的活体和标本室标本的高分辨率数字图像；这将是除了维护茶树科工作组网站之外的工作。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.