NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Implications of hybridization on persistence at macroevolutionary and contemporary timescales

这一行动为NSF 2020财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。对生物多样性认识的最新进展表明，由于物种之间的杂交(称为杂交)等过程允许基因交换，“生命树”更像是一张网。这突显了这样一个事实，物种可以通过多种方式进行亲缘关系--既可以通过从共同祖先那里继承，也可以通过不同血统的个体之间的交配。这有时可以允许关键适应或关键性状潜在基因的交换。虽然杂交是一种重要的进化机制，但它对物种的长期持久性和适应性的影响却鲜为人知。这位研究员进行的研究结合了基因组、种群和进化生物学的许多方面，并采用了新的计算和统计方法，以更好地了解杂交在塑造生物多样性中的作用。该项目将加速具有多种社会效益的研究，例如，在理解那些不重要的特征(例如，杀虫剂抗药性)的基因方面，以及在不断变化的环境中预测杂交如何影响濒危物种。该研究员还将在多个层面上扩展STEM倡议，包括旨在培养职业早期研究人员分析技能的研讨会、受训人员的广泛参与以及为研究界提供的增值软件组件。该研究员进行的研究将沿着宏观进化和当代时间尺度审查杂交在生物多样性动态中的作用。第一个将通过利用高性能计算的系统发生网络推断方法来表征跨全面抽样的焦点组杂交的经验系统发生特征。这将被用来测试杂交世系的命运，并提供一个比较框架，在其中检查生活史、杂交和多样化比率之间的相互作用。第二项研究将使用博物馆标本的时间序列基因组样本来检查物种边界的渗透性，并使用“反向生态学”的方法来寻找基因组中表现出适应性反应的功能成分。总而言之，这些目标增加了人们对杂交的重要性的理解，杂交是一种基本的进化过程，向后看是多样化的驱动力，而向前看是物种在不断变化的气候中生存或灭绝的一个组成部分。该项目的影响将通过为研究社区开发软件和技术以及为学生开发STEM倡议来扩大。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 2020, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. Recent advances in the understanding of biodiversity have shown the ‘Tree of Life’ to be more like a web, due to processes such as interbreeding among species (called hybridization) allowing for the exchange of genes. This underscores the fact that there are multiple ways in which species can be related—both by inheritance from a shared ancestor and by mating between individuals of different lineages. This can sometimes allow for the exchange of critical adaptations or genes underlying key traits. Although emerging as an important evolutionary mechanism, the consequences of hybridization on the long-term persistence and adaptability of species is poorly understood. The research undertaken by the Fellow joins many aspects of genomic, population, and evolutionary biology with novel computational and statistical approaches to better understand the role of hybridization in shaping biodiversity. This project will accelerate research with multiple societal benefits, for example in understanding genes which underly important traits (e.g., pesticide resistance) and in predicting how hybridization affects endangered species in changing environments. The Fellow will also expand STEM initiatives at multiple levels, including workshops aimed at developing analytical skills in early-career researchers, extensive involvement of trainees, and value-added software components for the research community.The research conducted by the Fellow will examine the role of hybridization in biodiversity dynamics along both macroevolutionary and contemporary timescales. The first will characterize empirical phylogenetic signatures of hybridization across comprehensively sampled focal groups by scaling phylogenetic network inference methods to make use of high-performance computing. This will be used to test the fates of hybridizing lineages and provide a comparative framework within which to examine the interplay between life history, hybridization, and diversification rates. The second will examine the permeability of species boundaries using time-series genomic sampling of museum specimens and employ a ‘reverse-ecology’ approach to seek functional components in the genome which show an adaptive response. Collectively, these objectives increase understanding of the significance of hybridization as a fundamental evolutionary process looking ‘backwards’ as a driver of diversification, and ‘forwards’ as a component of species’ persistence—or extinction—in a changing climate. The impact of the project will be broadened by developing software and techniques for the research community and STEM initiatives for students.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.