CAREER: Mechanisms and costs of temperature adaptation along a latitudinal cline for the coastal copepod, Acartia tonsa

生活在不同空间或时间的环境中的生物可能有更大的能力来适应或适应环境条件的快速变化。然而，人们对种群之间快速适应的机制或能力或与快速进化有关的成本程度知之甚少。该项目将利用沿着广泛纬度分布的基础性沿海桡足类-松细针水蚤-的多个种群，描述自然和实验性温度适应的机制和成本。这项工作也将大大推进我们对许多其他生态和经济关键物种适应能力变化的一般理解。为了开展这项工作，首席研究员将带领100名本科生，在五年的时间里，通过一个综合的教学研究资产为基础的培训计划，连接座谈会，暑期研究实习和研究课程。此外，两名博士生，一名博士后科学家和一名研究技术人员将在基于资产的指导，遗传学，基因组学，进化，计算和海洋生物学以及如何成为一个包容性，支持性STEM社区的成员方面发展各种技能。除了改善参与者的福祉和培养更多样化的STEM劳动力之外，研究结果还将通过提高预测未来条件下物种持续性的能力以及提高对不断变化的全球条件对海洋生态系统的威胁范围的理解来造福社会。种群通过遗传适应或生理可塑性对时空变化的环境条件做出反应，然而，对于这些机制如何因人口而异或如何促进未来的复原力，缺乏全面的了解。此外，温度适应是一种复杂的生理特性，因此快速的温度适应可能会根据种群的基因组背景采取多种途径，并可能产生意想不到的成本。在该项目中，首席研究员将带领学生进行工作，以测试基因组背景的变化影响适应能力的假设，以及快速适应一种压力源的成本来生存其他压力源。该项目将利用广泛的纬度分布和实验的生态基础性沿海桡足类，Acartia tonsa的易驾驭性。研究人员将1）使用生态基因组学和全基因组关联研究将基因型与温度适应性表型联系起来，研究沿着美国东海岸环境梯度的种群，2）揭示种群和生活史阶段之间耐热性差异的转录基础，3）描述多个实验进化种群中温度适应轨迹的变化，并测量适应的成本。整合这些目标的结果将有助于深入了解复杂性状的分子基础，实验室和实地研究中进化轨迹的可重复性，以及温度适应中塑料和遗传反应机制之间的关系。最后，这项工作将通过开发综合教学研究培训计划来进行，该计划将增加STEM研究社区的多样性和包容性。这项赠款是由生物科学局综合有机系统司综合生态生理学方案、地球科学局海洋科学司生物海洋学方案、该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估来支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Organisms that live in environments that vary across space or time may have greater capacity to acclimate or adapt to rapid changes in environmental conditions. However, little is known about the mechanisms or capacities for rapid adaptation among populations or the extent of costs associated with rapid evolution. This project will characterize the mechanisms and costs of natural and experimental temperature adaptation using multiple populations along the broad latitudinal distribution of the foundational coastal copepod, Acartia tonsa. This work will also greatly advance our general understanding of variation in capacity to adapt for many other ecologically and economically critical species. To carry out this work, the principal investigator will lead 100 undergraduates, over the five-year period, through an integrative teaching-research asset-based training program that connects a colloquium, summer research internship, and research course. In addition, two PhD students, one postdoctoral scientist, and one research technician will develop diverse skillsets in asset-based mentoring, genetics, genomics, evolution, computational and marine biology, and how to be a member of an inclusive, supportive STEM community. In addition to improving the well-being of participants and growing a more diverse STEM workforce, results from the research will benefit society by improving the ability to predict species persistence in future conditions and improving understanding of the scope of the threat of changing global conditions on ocean ecosystems.Populations respond to environmental conditions that vary across space and time through genetic adaptation or physiologically plasticity, however, a comprehensive understanding of how these mechanisms vary across populations or contribute to future resilience is lacking. In addition, temperature adaptation is a complex physiological trait, thus rapid temperature adaptation could take multiple paths depending on the genomic background of a population and could yield unintended costs. In the project, the principal investigator will lead students in work to test the hypotheses that variation in genomic backgrounds affects capacity to adapt and that rapid adaptation to one stressor comes with costs to survive other stressors. The project will capitalize on the broad latitudinal distribution and experimental tractability of the ecologically foundational coastal copepod, Acartia tonsa. The researchers will 1) Link genotype to temperature adaptive phenotype using ecological genomics and genome-wide association studies in populations along the environmental gradient of the U.S. East Coast, 2) Reveal the transcriptional bases of differences in thermal tolerance among populations and life-history stages, 3) Characterize variation in temperature adaptation trajectories in multiple experimentally evolved populations and measure the costs of adaptation. Integration of results across these aims will lead to insights to the molecular bases of complex traits, the repeatability of evolutionary trajectories in lab- and field-based studies, and the relationship between plastic and genetic response mechanisms in temperature adaptation. Lastly, this work will be performed through the development of an integrated teaching-research training program that will increase diversity and inclusion in a STEM research community. This grant was cofunded by the Integrative Ecological Physiology Program in the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems in the Directorate for Biological Science, The Biological Oceanography Program in the Division of Ocean Sciences in the Directorate for Geosciences, and The EPSCoR Program in the Office of Integrative Activities.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.