NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Connecting comparative, genomic, and evolutionary ecology factors to extreme mammalian longevity

这一行动资助了2020财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。在哺乳动物中，最大寿命随着体重的增加而增加，因此大型物种往往比小型物种活得更长。蝙蝠是这条生命法则的唯一例外，考虑到它们的体重，有几个物种的寿命比预期的要长得多。就像在几种蝙蝠身上看到的那样，极长寿是由修复细胞和组织损伤、维持免疫系统功能、防止导致癌症等与衰老相关的退行性疾病的突变出现的机制促进的。进化论认为，飞行、夜间行为的进化，以及在一些物种中，冬眠使蝙蝠从捕食等死亡来源中解脱出来，重塑了生活史，允许对允许蝙蝠在较老的生命阶段保持生殖和健康的机制进行更大的投资。这个项目将使用基因组分析来验证这一理论，以探索在两个寿命和生活史策略不同的密切相关蝙蝠物种中意外长寿的基础。这位研究员还将探索白鼻症导致的死亡率如何重塑生活史，从而投资于促进蝙蝠种群健康老龄化的机制。白鼻症是北美蝙蝠的一种紧急疾病。该项目将检验长期存在的老龄化理论，并评估自然人口中疾病死亡率对老龄化的影响。为了促进对生物学的更广泛参与，该研究员将在一系列研讨会上重点介绍来自代表性不足群体的科学家的研究，提供成功的榜样，激励学生继续从事科学。进化论认为，这种生活规则反映了维持和繁殖之间的生理权衡，而损伤理论提出，衰老是由于磨损的累积造成的。这个项目将测试相互竞争的衰老理论，并阐明作为极端长寿基础的基因-表型联系和基因调控网络，使用1)比较系统发育学来测试极端长寿是通过与外在死亡率变异(进化论)或代谢率变异(损伤理论)相对应的特征进化的适应性模型进化而来的，还是遵循随机行走模型来进化的；2)比较基因组学以探索几个蝙蝠谱系中极长寿的分子相关性；以及3)在受白鼻综合征高疾病介导性外在死亡率影响的绿鼠鼠种群之间寻找表观遗传年龄和时间年龄之间的差异迹象。此外，这位研究员将在纽约州立大学石溪分校建立一个研讨会系列，突出来自生物学领域代表性不足群体的早期职业研究人员。这一努力将提高未被充分代表的科学家的知名度，允许早期职业研究人员在领先的研究型大学建立合作，并打击未被充分代表的研究生的流失。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, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. In mammals, maximum lifespan increases with body mass such that large species tend to live longer than smaller species. Bats are a unique exception to this Rule of Life and several species live much longer than expected given their body mass. Extreme longevity, as seen in several species of bats, is facilitated by mechanisms that repair cell and tissue damage, maintain immune system function, and prevent the emergence of mutations that cause aging-associated degenerative disease such as cancer. Evolutionary theory proposes that the evolution of flight, nocturnal behavior, and in some species, hibernation released bats from sources of mortality such as predation, reshaping life history to allow greater investment in mechanisms that allow bats to remain reproductive and healthy at older life stages. This project will test this theory using genomic analyses to explore the basis of unexpected longevity in pairs of closely related bat species with divergent lifespans and life history strategies. The fellow will also explore how mortality caused by white-nose syndrome, an emergent disease in North American bats, is reshaping life history and thus investment in the mechanisms that facilitate healthy aging among bat populations. This project will test longstanding theories of aging and evaluate the impact of disease mortality on aging in a natural population. To promote broader participation in biology, the fellow will highlight research by scientists from underrepresented groups in a seminar series, providing successful role models to inspire students to remain in science.Evolutionary Theory suggests that this Rule of Life reflects physiological tradeoffs between maintenance and reproduction, while Damage Theory proposes that aging results from an accumulation of wear and tear. This project will test competing theories of aging and elucidate genotype-to-phenotype connections and gene regulatory networks that underlie extreme longevity using 1) comparative phylogenetics to test whether extreme longevity evolved through an adaptive model of trait evolution corresponding to variation in extrinsic mortality (Evolutionary Theory) or to metabolic rate variation (Damage Theory) or following a random-walk model; 2) comparative genomics to explore the molecular correlates of extreme longevity in several bat lineages; and 3) a search for signatures of divergence between epigenetic age and chronological age among Myotis lucifugus populations impacted by high disease-mediated extrinsic mortality from white-nose syndrome. Further, the fellow will establish a seminar series at SUNY Stony Brook that highlights early-career researchers from underrepresented groups in biology. This effort will increase the visibility of underrepresented scientists, allow early-career researchers to establish collaborations at a leading research university, and combat the attrition of underrepresented graduate 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.