NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Investigating Feedbacks Between Guppy Host Behavior and Gyrodactylid Parasite Evolution

这项行动资助了2020财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，综合研究调查了基因组，环境和表型之间的生命相互作用的规则。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。本研究探讨了动物社会行为与寄生虫适应之间的相互作用。当动物经常进行社交活动时，寄生虫（如病毒或蠕虫）更容易在动物宿主之间传播。更快的传播可能导致寄生虫发生变化，对宿主变得更致命。反过来，动物可能会在行为上避开受感染的个体，减少致命寄生虫感染的传播。这项研究测试了宿主行为和寄生虫进化如何使用数学模型和实验室实验与鱼类宿主和蠕虫寄生虫相互作用。这项研究的结果可能对鱼类养殖业很重要，因为蠕虫寄生虫每年都会造成大量的经济损失。此外，这项研究解决了宿主行为如何与寄生虫进化相互作用的基本科学问题。这些问题的答案对包括人类在内的许多物种的健康都很重要。多个学术水平的学生将参与这项研究。特别是，该研究员将培训来自匹兹堡地区代表性不足群体的高中生，以帮助研究。这一宝贵的研究经验和研究员的指导将提高学生的大学录取前景。这项研究推进了对宿主接触行为和寄生虫进化相互作用的理论和经验理解。共同赞助者将对该研究员进行数学理论培训。具体而言，理论模型将把个体宿主水平的感染过程与人群水平的流行病动态联系起来，这是流行病学理论的一个新兴领域。该框架将预测塑料寄主接触行为和寄生虫致死性（毒力）进化的相互作用。赞助商将培训研究员进行特林达迪孔雀鱼及其扁形虫（gyrodactylid）寄生虫的实验工作。由于孔雀鱼改变它们的社会行为以避免其他感染扁形虫的孔雀鱼，因此该系统特别适合。此外，可以非侵入性地测量单个孔雀鱼上的扁虫数量，以跟踪除了群体水平的流行病之外的个体宿主感染过程。研究人员预测，宿主之间更多的社会接触将选择更致命的寄生虫。反过来，更致命的寄生虫应该引起更大的宿主反应，以减少社会接触。假设这些相互作用导致宿主社会行为和寄生虫进化的循环。作为这项工作的一部分，该研究员将培训本科生和高中生的研究。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。

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. This research investigates the interactions between animal social behavior and parasite adaptation. When animals socially interact often, parasites (such as viruses or worms) transmit between animal hosts more easily. Faster transmission may lead parasites to change and become deadlier to hosts. In turn, animals may behaviorally avoid infected individuals, reducing the spread of deadly parasitic infections. This research tests how host behavior and parasite evolution interact using mathematical models and laboratory experiments with a fish host and worm parasite. The results of this research may prove important for fish aquaculture where the worm parasite annually causes a great deal of economic damage. Further, this research addresses fundamental scientific questions of how host behavior interacts with parasite evolution. Answers to these questions are important for the health of many species, including humans. Students at multiple academic levels will participate in this research. Particularly, the fellow will train high school students from underrepresented groups in the Pittsburgh area to help with the research. This valuable research experience and the fellow’s mentoring will improve students’ prospects for college admissions.This research advances theoretical and empirical understanding of the interactions of host contact behavior and parasite evolution. The co-sponsor will train the fellow in mathematical theory. Specifically, theoretical models will link the individual host-level course of infection to the population-level epidemic dynamics, an emerging area of epidemiological theory. This framework will predict the interactions of plastic host contact behavior and parasite deadliness (virulence) evolution. The sponsor will train the fellow in empirical work with Trindadian guppies and their flatworm (gyrodactylid) parasites. This system is particularly suitable since guppies alter their social behavior to avoid other guppies infected with flatworms. In addition, flatworm numbers on individual guppies can be measured non-invasively to track the individual-host course of infection in addition to population-level epidemics. The researchers predict that more social contact between hosts will select for deadlier parasites. In turn, deadlier parasites should cause a greater host response to decrease social contact. These interactions are hypothesized to lead to cycling of host social behavior and parasite evolution. As part of this work the fellow will train undergraduate and high school students in research.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.