NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: The relationship between seasonal adaptation and plasticity in the sea slug A. willowi

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。季节性环境变化长期以来一直令生物学家着迷，并指导着我们自己的许多活动模式。季节通常呈现相反的条件(例如，夏季和冬季的温度和降雨量)，植物和动物必须有方法来应对这些季节性变化。对于世代时间较短的生物，季节条件可能会通过自然选择影响基因变化。或者，生物体可能会对不同的环境表现出不同的表型(特征)，而不会发生遗传变化。或者，这两者的结合可能正在发生。已知在其生活史上表现出显著变化的海懒将被分析。在加利福尼亚州的海岸线上发现了一种名为Alderia willowi的海懒，它在冬天产很多小幼虫，在夏天只产几只大的幼虫。它的世代时间很短，因此遗传变化和表型变异都可能起作用。这项研究对于了解生物如何适应不断变化的气候特别相关。该研究员将进行研究活动，同时指导本科生进行生物信息学分析，这是研究的组成部分。研究采用多因素综合方法，结合群体遗传学、基因表达和生理学，评估基因组和表型随季节时间尺度的变化程度。这位研究员将从单个种群中收集季节性复制的样本，以寻找与夏季和冬季一致的等位基因频率的重复波动。为了确定基因表达模式如何受季节的影响，这位研究员将进行实验室实验，操纵夏季和冬季收集的鼻涕虫所经历的温度和盐度。此外，同伴和本科生学员将在全年进行生理学实验，以记录与基因型和基因表达变化同时发生的季节性变化。该研究员将接受数据分析、科学演示和出版、本科生指导、研讨会设计和实施以及会议组织方面的培训。在整个PRFB任期内，该研究员将在加州州立大学洛杉矶分校举办生物信息学研讨会，向学生介绍如何在命令行上执行分析。这个工作坊的几名学生将被招募来继续与研究员合作分析在PRFB任期内产生的数据。这一奖项反映了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. Seasonal environmental change has long fascinated biologists and directs many of our own activity patterns. Seasons often present opposing conditions (e.g., temperature and precipitation in summer versus winter) and plants and animals must have ways to cope with these seasonal changes. For organisms with short generation times, seasonal conditions may effect genetic change through natural selection. Alternatively, organisms may show different phenotypes (traits) in response to different environments, without genetic changes. Or a combination of the two may be occurring. Sea slugs, which are known to exhibit striking variation during their life history, will be analyzed. The sea slug Alderia willowi is found on the California coastline and produces many small larvae during the winter and only a few large larvae during the summer. It has a short generation time and so both genetic change and phenotype variability may play a role. This research is particularly relevant to understanding how organisms may adapt to a changing climate. The Fellow will perform the research activities while mentoring undergraduate students in the bioinformatic analyses that are integral to the research.The research takes a multi-factorial and integrative approach combining population genetics, gene expression, and physiology to assess the degree of genomic and phenotypic change along seasonal time scales. The Fellow will collect seasonally replicated samples from a single population to search for repeated fluctuations in allele frequencies that coincide with the summer and winter seasons. To determine how patterns of gene expression are influenced by season, the Fellow will conduct lab experiments manipulating the temperature and salinity experienced by slugs collected in the summer and winter. Furthermore, the Fellow and undergraduate mentees will perform physiology experiments throughout the year to document seasonal changes that co-occur with changes in genotype and gene expression. The Fellow will receive training in data analyses, scientific presentation and publication, undergraduate mentorship, workshop design and implementation, and conference organization. Throughout the PRFB tenure, the Fellow will run a bioinformatics workshop at Cal State LA to introduce students to performing analyses on the command line. Several students from this workshop will be recruited to continue collaborating with the Fellow on analyses of the data generated during the PRFB tenure.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.