NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Genetic and biological substrates facilitating detection and evaluation of potential mates in a novel mammalian model

2020 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：促进新型哺乳动物模型中潜在配偶的检测和评估的遗传和生物底物

• 批准号: 2010866
• 负责人: Ehren Bentz
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Bentz, Ehren James
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2010866&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

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. Locating, identifying, and selecting suitable mates is a fundamental challenge common to all life. These important aspects of reproduction are often accomplished through chemical communication involving pheromones. Thus, the chemical sense of smell used to detect pheromones is important to successful animal reproduction. African giant pouched rats possess a powerful sense of smell which allows them to communicate using a complex system of pheromone signals. These pheromones are used to pass detailed information to one another about gender, age, reproductive features and quality as potential mates. Despite the importance, little is known about how this information is passed using pheromones or what physical mechanisms are used to detect and interpret these signals. This research seeks to answer these questions and represents the first steps toward establishing a unique rodent model of reproduction and chemical communication that will advance the understanding of how appropriate mates are identified. The fellow will broaden participation within the scientific community by including undergraduate student researchers at the beginning of their careers and through collaborative international field research involving students and researchers from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania.Utilizing an integrative approach combining behavioral, physiological and molecular evidence, this research seeks to describe the genetic and biological substrates facilitating detection, identification and evaluation of potential mates in the African giant pouched rat. First, the genetic potential for expression of vomeronasal chemical receptor proteins will be investigated using in-silico genomic analyses comparing receptor repertoires of related species to identify biologically relevant genes and provide insight regarding the relative biological importance of the vomeronasal chemosensory system of the pouched rat. Next, high throughout RNA-sequencing will be used to examine expression of vomeronasal and olfactory chemical receptors and describe variation by gender, developmental phenotype, or reproductive status suggestive of optimization of sensitivity toward biologically relevant chemical stimuli. This research component will be conducted in collaboration with Sokoine University of Agriculture using animals from natural Tanzanian populations. Lastly, behavioral assays will determine the specific roles of the vomeronasal and main olfactory chemosensory systems, and how these systems interact to facilitate chemical communication and reproduction. Mentoring students and collaboration with scientists in Tanzania will broaden the impact of this work.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.

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。寻找、识别和选择合适的配偶是所有生命共同面临的基本挑战。生殖的这些重要方面通常通过涉及信息素的化学通信来完成。因此，用于检测信息素的化学嗅觉对动物成功繁殖很重要。非洲巨鼠拥有强大的嗅觉，这使它们能够使用复杂的信息素信号系统进行交流。这些信息素被用来传递关于性别、年龄、生殖特征和潜在配偶质量的详细信息。尽管很重要，但人们对这些信息是如何通过信息素传递的，或者是用什么物理机制来检测和解释这些信号知之甚少。这项研究试图回答这些问题，并代表了建立一个独特的啮齿动物生殖和化学通讯模型的第一步，这将促进对如何识别合适配偶的理解。该研究员将扩大科学界的参与范围，包括本科生研究人员在职业生涯开始时的参与，以及坦桑尼亚莫罗戈罗Sokoine农业大学的学生和研究人员的国际合作实地研究。利用结合行为，生理和分子证据的综合方法，这项研究旨在描述促进检测的遗传和生物基质，识别和评估非洲巨袋鼠的潜在配偶。首先，犁鼻化学受体蛋白的表达的遗传潜力将进行研究，使用计算机基因组分析比较相关物种的受体库，以确定生物学相关基因，并提供有关犁鼻化学感觉系统的相对生物学重要性的见解的袋装大鼠。接下来，高通量RNA测序将用于检查犁鼻和嗅觉化学受体的表达，并描述性别、发育表型或生殖状态的变化，提示对生物学相关化学刺激的敏感性优化。这项研究将与Sokoine农业大学合作进行，使用来自坦桑尼亚自然种群的动物。最后，行为分析将确定犁鼻和主要嗅觉化学感觉系统的具体作用，以及这些系统如何相互作用，以促进化学通讯和生殖。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。