NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2017: Innovation, diversification, and complexity: The impact of venom evolution on the integrated venom delivery system of snakes

2017 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：创新、多样化和复杂性：毒液进化对蛇综合毒液输送系统的影响

• 批准号: 1711141
• 负责人: Matthew Holding
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Holding Matthew L
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-03-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1711141&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. The Fellow?s research focuses on a key gap in our knowledge of how the diversity of extant life came to be. There is a conflict between the complex traits of organisms, such as the architecture of the head, jaws, and teeth, and the speed at which new species appear over evolutionary time. The major hypothesis for the rapid appearance of new species is the idea of key innovations, which are traits that provide novel ecological opportunity to a group of organisms. However, these traits are part of a complex organism with other traits that may constrain the evolutionary path that is possible. The Fellow?s work will determine if morphological constraints breakdown following the appearance of key innovations in the venom of North and South American snakes. The Fellow will visit several museum collections to quantify variation in head and fang shape of pitviper species, and quantify levels of variation in these traits to determine if changes in snake venom lead to changes in variation and complexity in the venom delivery system, or if the opposite is true. The Fellow will then use 3D printed fang models to determine if fang shape contributes to the toxic actions of venom, which will help us understand snakebite morbidity in humans. This research will train the Fellow in 1) cutting edge research methods in the different fields of molecular evolutionary biology and morphology, 2) mentorship of four graduate and eight undergraduate students who will also learn new methods, and 3) developing outreach programs that bring scientific knowledge out of the lab and to interested citizens. The research will also preserve thousands of valuable museum specimens as digital photographs and lead to the development of a teaching module on key innovations in snake venom for use in the high school and college biology classroom. The key trait approach focuses on a few traits in isolation, while most traits are inherently complex and interdependent. This interdependence (i.e. phenotypic integration) is manifest as sets of integrated phenotypes (i.e., modules) that vary independently of each other. The extent of phenotypic integration and modularity in a set of traits can, itself, evolve, but the relationship between integration, evolutionary innovations, and biological diversity has not been determined. This research will test the hypothesis that rapid biological diversification is intimately linked with altered patterns of integration and modularity in key traits in New World venomous snakes. The Fellow will achieve the following goals: (1) quantifying the degree of association between diversification rates and the strength and pattern of phenotypic integration in head and fang morphology, (2) determining whether biochemical innovations in the venom are linked to morphological divergence, and (3) using micro-CT scans and 3D printed fang models to test for the hypothesized functional relationship between fang morphology and venom composition. The Fellow will be trained in comparative evolutionary analyses, geometric morphometrics, micro-CT, 3D printing, and mentoring of other young scientists.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

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。那个家伙？的研究集中在我们对现存生命多样性如何形成的知识中的一个关键空白。生物体的复杂特征，如头部、颌骨和牙齿的结构，与新物种在进化过程中出现的速度之间存在冲突。新物种快速出现的主要假设是关键创新的想法，这是为一组生物提供新生态机会的特征。然而，这些特征是复杂生物体的一部分，其他特征可能会限制可能的进化路径。那个家伙？他的工作将确定在北美和南美蛇毒液出现关键创新后，形态限制是否会崩溃。研究员将参观几个博物馆收藏量化的头和尖牙形状的pitviper物种的变化，并量化这些特征的变化水平，以确定是否蛇毒的变化导致变化和复杂性的毒液输送系统，或者如果相反的是真的。然后，研究员将使用3D打印的尖牙模型来确定尖牙形状是否有助于毒液的毒性作用，这将有助于我们了解人类的蛇咬伤发病率。这项研究将培训研究员1）分子进化生物学和形态学不同领域的尖端研究方法，2）四名研究生和八名本科生的导师，他们也将学习新方法，以及3）开发外展计划，将科学知识带出实验室并提供给感兴趣的公民。这项研究还将保存数以千计的珍贵博物馆标本作为数码照片，并导致开发一个教学模块的关键创新蛇毒用于高中和大学生物课堂。关键特质方法专注于孤立的少数特质，而大多数特质本质上是复杂和相互依赖的。这种相互依赖性（即表型整合）表现为一组整合的表型（即，模块），其彼此独立地变化。一组性状的表型整合和模块化程度本身可以进化，但整合、进化创新和生物多样性之间的关系尚未确定。这项研究将检验快速生物多样化与新世界毒蛇关键性状的整合和模块化模式改变密切相关的假设。研究员将实现以下目标：（1）量化头部和尖牙形态中的多样化率与表型整合的强度和模式之间的关联程度，（2）确定毒液中的生物化学创新是否与形态分歧相关联，以及（3）使用微CT扫描和3D打印的尖牙模型来测试尖牙形态和毒液成分之间的假设功能关系。该研究员将接受比较进化分析、几何形态测量学、微型CT、3D打印和指导其他年轻科学家的培训。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Intraspecific sequence and gene expression variation contribute little to venom diversity in sidewinder rattlesnakes ( Crotalus cerastes )

种内序列和基因表达变异对响尾蛇（Crotalus cerastes）毒液多样性影响不大

• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0810
• 发表时间: 2019
• 期刊: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• 作者: Rautsaw, Rhett M.;Hofmann, Erich P.;Margres, Mark J.;Holding, Matthew L.;Strickland, Jason L.;Mason, Andrew J.;Rokyta, Darin R.;Parkinson, Christopher L.
• 通讯作者: Parkinson, Christopher L.