NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Evolutionary patterns in sand-entrapment in plants and consequences for insect herbivores

2017 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：植物夹沙的进化模式及其对食草昆虫的影响

• 批准号: 1708942
• 负责人: Eric LoPresti
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: LoPresti Eric
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-09-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1708942&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2017, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. Specifically, this proposal examines an often-noted, but virtually unstudied phenomenon: a great many plants entrap sand or other substrate with sticky trichomes. Sand entrapment traits are well-preserved in herbarium specimens, but the distribution and evolution of such traits in plants is poorly-known. Entrapped sand and dust have negative effects on insect and mammalian herbivores, wearing down their mandibles and teeth, and the presence of this substrate lessens herbivory on plants. During this experiment, the fellow and undergraduate researchers will use herbaria, insect collections, and laboratory experiments to further explore this interesting phenomenon. The research supported by this award has four primary goals. (1) To determine the extent of sand-entrapment across the plants, utilizing herbarium collections and compiled floras for desert and dune regions. (2) To determine whether plants trade-off this effective physical defense with chemical defenses, using a live collection of sand verbenas (Abronia species) and a common pest caterpillar (Hyles lineata). (3) To determine whether sand-entrapment dictates which insects can eat these sand-covered plants. Lastly [4] to determine whether insects feeding on these and other gritty plants have evolved similar "tooth" morphology to herbivorous mammals - the ability to wear down their grinding surfaces. These projects will be conducted with several undergraduate assistants, and will be incorporated into lessons for elementary through high school students. Results form the studies will be distributed in peer-reviewed journals and presented at scientific meetings and symposia.

这项行动资助了2017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，以创新的方式利用生物收藏。具体来说，这项建议探讨了一个经常注意到的，但几乎没有研究的现象：大量的植物诱捕沙子或其他基质与粘性毛状体。植物标本馆标本中保存完好的沙陷特征，但这些特征在植物中的分布和进化却知之甚少。夹带的沙子和灰尘对昆虫和哺乳动物食草动物产生负面影响，磨损它们的下颌骨和牙齿，而这种基质的存在会减少对植物的食草性。在这个实验中，研究员和本科生研究人员将使用植物标本，昆虫标本和实验室实验来进一步探索这个有趣的现象。 该奖项支持的研究有四个主要目标。(1)利用植物标本馆收集和沙漠和沙丘地区的植物区系汇编，确定植物的夹沙程度。(2)为了确定植物是否权衡这种有效的物理防御与化学防御，使用活的收集沙马鞭草（Abronia物种）和常见的害虫毛虫（Hyles lineata）。(3)以确定是否沙诱捕决定哪些昆虫可以吃这些沙覆盖的植物。最后[4]确定以这些和其他砂砾植物为食的昆虫是否进化出了与食草哺乳动物相似的“牙齿”形态-磨损其研磨表面的能力。这些项目将由几名本科生助理进行，并将纳入小学到高中学生的课程中。 研究结果将发表在同行评审的期刊上，并在科学会议和研讨会上发表。