RoL: Collaborative Research: When a pathogen becomes a mutualist: discovery, evolution and rules that govern function and acquisition in wasp-viral symbiosis

最近的发现表明，病毒与其宿主的共生关系是普遍存在的，给其宿主带来了重大利益，并在地球上生命的进化中发挥了重要作用。因此，了解这些病毒相关性是如何进化的，对于全面了解生物体多样性的进化至关重要。寄生蜂（在昆虫体内生长并杀死其他昆虫的黄蜂）是理解病毒共生进化的天然实验室，因为它们具有高度多样性，并且已经进化出与病毒的重复关联。这些病毒能够抑制被黄蜂寄生的昆虫宿主的免疫防御机制，使黄蜂能够生存和繁殖。寄生蜂还为社会提供了大量的经济利益，因为它们是对森林和农作物造成损害的害虫的天敌。该项目研究地球上最惊人的辐射之一（茧蜂寄生蜂，有19，000种）与其共生病毒的巨大未开发多样性之间的进化和相互作用。长期目标是了解控制病毒、黄蜂和黄蜂宿主之间关系的规则。该研究项目在几个方面推进了知识：（1）在生命树的两个研究不足的领域-病毒和黄蜂-发现新的生物多样性;（2）解决黄蜂-病毒共生的进化历史和年龄问题;（3）发现病毒共生的预测性基因组特征，以了解控制这些相互作用的规则;（4）描述病毒的功能;以及（5）产生公开可用的基因组数据。拟议的工作将大大改变对共生病毒进化的理解，这将提供有关病毒进化的一般信息。研究人员将通过与当地学校的教师密切合作并开发新的教育资源，将黄蜂和病毒研究与教育和公共宣传结合起来。此外，该计划将改善STEM教育和教育工作者的发展，提高公众的素养和参与STEM。该项目整合了系统发育，功能和基因组学方法，以发现管理病毒和黄蜂之间的互惠关系的规则，反过来，这些寄生蜂和它们的宿主之间的相互作用。总体目标是解决和日期的黄蜂家庭茧蜂的进化关系，使用新的DNA分析方法，发现哪些黄蜂谱系与互利共生病毒和它们的驯化时间，确定病毒如何影响黄蜂和它们的主机之间的拮抗作用，并检查基因组功能相关的病毒互利共生。研究人员的目标是：（1）解析地球上最多样化的谱系之一（19，000个物种）的深层和浅层节点并确定其日期;（2）发现并描述茧蜂科病毒共生的多个起源;（3）破译寄生蜂及其宿主生物学中病毒共生体的作用。该推广计划有两个主要组成部分：1）为当地K-12教师提供实验室研究实习机会，使他们能够学习新的研究技术，以改善他们的教学; 2）使用沉浸式虚拟现实和动画体验来吸引公众并加强本科教育的学习。研究人员还将提供综合研究和培训机会，以代表性不足的学员（2名博士后研究人员，7名本科生和2名研究生）跨学科的遗传学，功能和比较基因组学，以及修订系统学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Recent discoveries have shown that symbiotic relationships of viruses with their hosts are pervasive, confer major benefits to their hosts, and have played a major role in the evolution of life on earth. Understanding how these viral associations evolve is thus essential for a holistic view on the evolution of a broad diversity of organisms. Parasitoid wasps (wasps that grow within and kill other insects) are a natural laboratory for understanding the evolution of viral symbiosis because they are highly diverse and have evolved repeated associations with viruses. These viruses are able to suppress the immune defense mechanisms of the insect hosts that are parasitized by the wasps, enabling the wasps to survive and reproduce. Parasitoid wasps also provide substantial economic benefits to society because they are natural enemies of insect pests that cause damage to forests and agricultural crops. This project investigates the evolution and interactions between one of the most astonishing radiations on Earth (braconid parasitoid wasps, with 19,000 species) and the massive untapped diversity of their symbiotic viruses. The long-term goal is to understand the rules that govern the associations of the viruses, the wasps, and the hosts of the wasps. This research project advances knowledge in several ways: (1) discovery of new biodiversity in two poorly studied areas of the tree of life--viruses and wasps; (2) resolution of the evolutionary history and age of wasp-viral symbioses; (3) discovery of predictive genomic traits for viral symbiosis to understand the rules that govern these interactions; (4) characterization of the function of viruses; and (5) generating publicly available genome data. The proposed work will substantially transform understanding of symbiotic viral evolution, which will provide general information about virus evolution. The researchers will integrate wasp and viral research with education and public outreach by working closely with teachers in local schools and developing new educational resources. Furthermore, the program will improve STEM education and educator development and increase public literacy and engagement in STEM.This project integrates phylogenetic, functional, and genomics approaches to discover the rules that govern mutualistic associations between viruses and wasps and, in turn, the interactions between these parasitoid wasps and their hosts. The overall objectives are to resolve and date the evolutionary relationships of the wasp family Braconidae using new methods of DNA analysis, discover which wasp lineages are associated with mutualistic viruses and the timing of their domestication, determine how viruses affect the antagonistic interactions between the wasps and their hosts, and examine genome features related to viral mutualism. The researchers aim to: (1) Resolve and date deep and shallow nodes for one of the most diverse lineages (19,000 species) on Earth; (2) Discover and characterize the multiple origins of viral symbiosis in Braconidae; and (3) decipher the roles of viral symbionts in the biology of the parasitoid wasps and their hosts. The outreach plan has two main components: 1) Providing research internships in the lab for local K-12 teachers so that they may learn new research techniques that will improve their teaching; and 2) using immersive virtual reality and animation experiences to engage the public and enhance learning in undergraduate education. The researchers will also provide integrated research and training opportunities to underrepresented mentees (2 postdoctoral researchers, 7 undergraduate and 2 graduate students) across the disciplines of phylogenetics, functional and comparative genomics, and revisionary systematics.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.