NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Connecting Genomic and hormonal mechanisms to ecologically relevant behaviors

这一行动为NSF 2019财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大了生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。这项研究调查了当这些行为的潜在机制被预测为不同时，男性和女性是如何表现出外表相似的行为的。该项目研究了领土攻击的荷尔蒙和基因组基础，领土攻击是整个动物界普遍存在的行为，对繁殖成功至关重要。对雄性动物的研究表明，像睾丸激素这样的荷尔蒙以及大脑中表达的基因可以调节攻击性。然而，攻击性对许多物种的雌性也很重要，特别是在争夺有限筑巢空间的鸟类中。一个悬而未决的问题是，男性和女性的攻击性是由相似还是不同的机制控制的。这项研究将调查多个鸟类家族，以检查雄性和雌性之间在攻击性方面的差异，以及激素、基因表达和基因组进化。远亲群体中相似表型的独立起源是自然选择的令人信服的证据，但行为趋同的最近基础却鲜为人知。这项研究评估了一种反复进化的行为背后的机械趋同：空穴筑巢。雄性和雌性洞巢鸟都会争夺筑巢地点，这为评估雄性和雌性之间机械平行的性质和程度提供了机会。这项工作将对整个系统发展史上的基因组进行广泛的采样，以量化与空穴筑巢进化相关的正选择。对有和没有空穴筑巢的多个物种对的激素和神经基因表达的比较将评估在空穴筑巢表型上的趋同选择是否预测男性/女性在不同家庭中的攻击性差异。这项工作测试了一个新的假设，即基因序列变异、神经基因表达和激素水平独立作用，导致行为表型趋同。该项目的更广泛影响旨在吸引和留住从高中过渡到大学的代表不足群体的学生。这位研究员将与印第安纳大学附近的高中教师合作，设计洞穴筑巢繁殖阶段的学习模块，并让学生通过互动的eBirdhouse进行动手研究，以收集野生鸟类的环境和行为数据。该项目为学生提供在STEM领域取得成功所必需的批判性思维、数据分析和公共演讲技能方面的培训。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This research investigates how males and females display outwardly similar behaviors when the underlying mechanisms for these behaviors are predicted to be different. The project examines the hormonal and genomic basis of territorial aggression a behavior that is widespread across the animal kingdom and critical for reproductive success. Studies of male animals reveal that hormones like testosterone, as well as genes expressed in the brain, regulate aggression. However, aggression is also important for females of many species, especially in birds that compete for limited nesting space. An open question is whether male and female aggression are controlled by similar or different mechanisms. This research will survey multiple bird families to examine differences in aggression between males and females, as well as hormones, gene expression, and genome evolution. The independent origin of similar phenotypes across distantly-related groups is compelling evidence for natural selection, but the proximate bases of behavioral convergence are poorly understood. This research evaluates the mechanistic convergence underlying a repeatedly evolved behavior: cavity-nesting. Both male and female cavity-nesters compete for nest sites, providing an opportunity to assess the nature and degree of mechanistic parallelism between males and females. This work will broadly sample genomes across a phylogeny to quantify positive selection associated with the evolution of cavity nesting. A comparison of hormonal and neural gene expression for multiple species pairs with and without cavity nesting will assess whether convergent selection on the cavity-nesting phenotype predicts male/female differences in aggression across families. This work tests an emergent hypothesis that gene sequence variation, neural gene expression, and hormone levels act independently to bring about convergent behavioral phenotypes. The project's broader impacts are designed to engage and retain students from underrepresented groups as they transition from high school to college. The fellow will pair with high school teachers near Indiana University to design learning modules on the reproductive stages of cavity-nesting, and engage students in hands-on research with interactive 'eBirdhouses' to collect environmental and behavioral data from wild birds. This project provides training for students in critical thinking, data analysis, and public speaking skills essential to success in STEM fields.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.