NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Elucidating the diversity, prevalence, and stability of deep-sea RNA viruses

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。病毒是世界上最普遍的微生物，在与它们相互作用的生物体的功能中起着至关重要的作用。这可能会产生全球性影响，因为病毒感染引起的细胞死亡会导致碳和营养物质释放回环境中供其他生物使用。随着病毒在环境中的重要性得到更广泛的认识，了解深海中发现的病毒的多样性至关重要，因为病毒与其宿主之间的相互作用尚未得到很好的研究。这项研究将识别和表征RNA病毒，这是一组在深海中发现的特定病毒，目前对其知之甚少。这些结果将为了解病毒-宿主相互作用提供见解，这对于理解微生物功能和碳循环至关重要。为了扩大https://www.ejacket.nsf.gov/ej/showContextStatementList.do? pageProposalId=2010963 source= docsummary这项工作的影响，该研究员将应用经验学习模块和指导，以增加在科学中代表性不足的中学和社区大学学生的接触和参与。RNA病毒代表了一组生物实体，在自然界中仍然存在大量研究不足，在深海等海洋环境中更是如此。缺乏对环境RNA病毒的了解影响了对海洋微生物循环的理解以及病毒在驱动微生物适应方面的重要性。拟议的工作将探讨RNA病毒在深海环境中的多样性和流行性，深海环境是微生物适应和进化的重要场所。利用不依赖培养的测序方法和深海微生物分离株，这项工作的目的是1）鉴定新型RNA病毒，2）阐明驱动病毒-宿主相互作用的辅助代谢基因的存在，3）对RNA病毒基因组在深海环境中的维持和稳定性所需的病毒基因进行分类。这项研究将是第一个深入的“组学”研究，以揭示RNA病毒作为深海微生物适应，进化和生物地球化学循环的驱动因素的作用。这项拟议的工作将为RNA病毒及其宿主在深海环境中的共同进化提供新的见解，为深海生态系统概念框架中的病毒-宿主相互作用提供新的模型。这项研究的其他更广泛的影响旨在开发和实施与海洋，病毒，和微生物生态系统，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

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. Viruses are the world’s most prevalent microbes and play a vital role in the function of the organisms with which they interact. This can have global effects, as cell death caused by viral infection leads to the release of carbon and nutrients back into the environment to be used by other organisms. As the importance of viruses in the environment becomes more widely recognized, it is critical to understand the diversity of viruses found in the deep ocean where the interplay between viruses and their hosts has not been well studied. This research will identify and characterize RNA viruses, a specific group of viruses found in the deep ocean about which little is currently known. The results will provide insights into virus-host interactions that will be important for understanding microbial function and carbon cycling. To broaden the https://www.ejacket.nsf.gov/ej/showContextStatementList.do?pageProposalId=2010963&source=docsummaryimpact of the work, the fellow will apply experiential learning modules and mentorship to increase exposure and participation of underrepresented middle-school and community college students in science.RNA viruses represent a group of biological entities that remain vastly understudied in the natural world and even more so in marine environments such as the deep sea. The lack of knowledge about environmental RNA viruses impacts understanding of the marine microbial loop and the importance of viruses in driving microbial adaptation. The proposed work will explore the diversity and prevalence of RNA viruses within deep-sea environments that represent important sites for microbial adaptation and evolution. Utilizing culture-independent sequencing approaches and deep-sea microbial isolates, this work aims to 1) identify novel RNA viruses, 2) elucidate the presence of auxiliary metabolic genes which drive virus-host interactions, and 3) classify viral genes required for maintenance and stability of RNA virus genomes in deep-sea environments. This research will be the first in-depth ‘omics’ study to uncover the role RNA viruses play as drivers of microbial adaptation, evolution, and biogeochemical cycling in the deep sea. Together this proposed work will provide novel insights into the co-evolution of RNA viruses and their hosts in deep-sea environments, providing a new model for virus-host interactions in the conceptual framework of deep-sea ecosystems. Additional broader impacts of this research are aimed towards development and implementation of STEM modules related to the study of marine, viral, and microbial ecosystems for mentorship of middle-school and community college students to improve the diversity and inclusion of underrepresented individuals.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.