CAREER: Coevolutionary Community Dynamics of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixing Associations

职业：共生固氮协会的共同进化群落动态

基本信息

批准号：
1943628
负责人：
Maren Friesen
金额：
$ 96.96万
依托单位：
Washington State University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Continuing Grant
财政年份：
2020
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2020-05-01 至 2025-04-30
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1943628&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
CAREER Coevolutionary Community Dynamics Symbiotic

项目摘要

Everything in our world is covered in complex communities of microorganisms called microbiomes. These microbiomes are important for human health, clean environments, and productive crops. Since they are much smaller than their hosts, microorganisms can evolve much faster. Within the microbiomes, some theoretical models predict that faster evolution will result in microorganisms that cause more severe disease, whereas other models predict that faster evolution will cause beneficial microorganisms to become even more beneficial. Understanding when each of these outcomes occurs will be important for coming up with strategies to manage microbiomes. This project will use coevolutionary theoretical models to understand how communities of microorganisms that colonize the roots of clover plants interact and evolve. Clover is a relative of many crop plants such as beans, alfalfa, and chickpeas, and this information can be used to improve agricultural yield and soil health. Students will be trained in methods to study these microorganisms and will isolate strains, analyze genomes and physiology, and measure ecological interactions. The project will recruit underserved Native American students in the Pacific Northwest. This project will also produce a coevolutionary video game that will combine outreach and education with research. A symposium bringing together student researchers, empiricists, and theoreticians will catalyze transformative research in this rapidly moving field.Host-associated microbial communities are key mediators of host traits and ecosystem processes, and a scientific frontier is understanding how these communities interact and coevolve in nature. Clover nodule-associated microorganismal communities are an ideal model system to study these processes. This project has three key elements: (1) an accessible field system at Bodega Bay, amenable to the collection of long-term data on both hosts and associated microorganisms, (2) the ability to bring key players into the lab to measure the molecular basis of host-microorganism and microorganism-microorganism interactions, assess patterns of fitness covariance, and conduct experimental coevolution, and (3) mathematical models that can be parameterized with empirical data to predict community assembly and coevolutionary dynamics. The project will address (1) how asymmetries in evolutionary rates influence coevolution in complex communities, (2) scenarios in which 'Red Queen' dynamics–arms races between antagonists–outpace 'Red King' dynamics, where rapidly-evolving mutualists evolve costly traits that enhance host fitness, and (3) how multi-partite interactions influence host benefit and specialization. By linking empirical measurements over varying evolutionary timescales to mathematical models, this project will potentially generate insight into general properties of complex coevolving host-associated communities.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.

我们世界上的一切都涵盖在复杂的微生物群落中，称为微生物组。这些微生物组对于人类健康，清洁环境和产品作物很重要。由于它们比宿主小得多，因此微生物的发展速度更快。在微生物组中，一些理论模型预测，更快的进化将导致微生物引起更严重的疾病，而其他模型预测，更快的进化将导致有益的微生物变得更加有益。了解这些结果何时发生对于提出管理微生物组的策略至关重要。该项目将使用协同进化的理论模型来了解如何将三叶草植物根源的微生物群落相互作用和进化。三叶草是许多作物植物的亲戚，例如豆类，苜蓿和鹰嘴豆，可以使用这些信息来改善农业产量和土壤健康。学生将接受研究这些微生物的方法，并将分离菌株，分析基因组和生理学并衡量生态相互作用。该项目将在太平洋西北地区招募服务不足的美国原住民学生。该项目还将制作一个协同进化的视频游戏，将外展和教育与研究结合在一起。一个将学生研究人员，经验家和理论家召集在一起的研讨会将在这个快速移动的领域中催化变革性研究。与主机相关的微生物群落是宿主特征和生态系统过程的关键介体，而科学领域的理解是如何理解这些社区在本质上如何相互作用和共同发展。三叶草结节相关的微生物群落是研究这些过程的理想模型系统。 This project has three key elements: (1) an accessible field system at Bodega Bay, amenable to the collection of long-term data on both hosts and associated microorganisms, (2) the ability to bring key players into the lab to measure the molecular basis of host-microorganism and microorganism-microorganism interactions, assessment patterns of fitness covariance, and conduct experimental coevolution, and (3) mathematical models that can be用经验数据进行参数，以预测社区组装和协同进化动力学。该项目将解决（1）进化率的不对称性如何影响复杂社区的协同进化，（2）场景中，“红色皇后”动力学 - 敌对者之间的“红色皇后”竞赛 - 敌对空间“红王”动力学，在这种情况下，迅速发展的共产主义人物会进化成昂贵的特征，从而增强宿主健身和（3）互动效果和专业化和专业化，并促进宿主健身和（3）。通过将各种进化时间尺度上的经验测量与数学模型联系起来，该项目将有可能洞悉复杂的共同发展宿主相关社区的一般特性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的智力优点和广泛的影响来评估Criteria criteria诚实地认为，通过评估诚实的支持。