NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020

2020 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金

• 批准号: 2011045
• 负责人: Roberto Gomez
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Gomez, Roberto Antonio
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-02-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2011045&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

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. A primary aim is to explore the rapid evolution of reproductive systems using the extraordinarily diverse male gametes (spermatozoa) and female reproductive tracts (FRTs) of beetles. The researchers will gather gamete-FRT structural, behavioral, and multi-omic data from ground beetles (family Carabidae), whirligig beetles (family Gyrinidae), and related beetles in the suborder Adephaga (~40,000 species) to expand our understanding of gamete-FRT co-diversification and its role in the genesis of new species. Male gametes are typically thought of as functioning as a single individual cell, but many ground and whirligig beetles make groups of them (often called “conjugates”) by joining them together with a protein-rich rod that shows obvious differences between closely related species. These conjugates travel cooperatively within the FRT, but individual male gametes must dissociate prior to fertilization. The researchers will leverage and further develop the adephagan beetle system to advance the field of evolutionary biology and male-female interactions by further promoting the career of a postdoctoral researcher in the sciences as well as by including middle school and undergraduate students from groups that are also historically underrepresented in STEM disciplines in various phases of the project, from the collection of specimens via guided hikes to laboratory exercises working with beetles.The researchers will sample densely in Carabidae and Gyrinidae, gathering multivariate gamete and FRT morphological data for ~300 species, together with in vivo studies, which will be analyzed in a phylogenetic framework to resolve the biology of male gamete-FRT interactions and patterns of gamete-FRT co-diversification and rate co-variation across these lineages. Gamete-FRT co-diversification may be an "engine of speciation," but this prediction has never been tested. Lineage diversification rates and evolutionary rates of male gamete and FRT traits will be inferred for the adephagans to test the prediction that species with more elaborate spermatozoa will have faster speciation rates. Testis transcriptomes and gamete free spermatostyle proteomes of select species representing independent spermatostyle origins will be generated to explore the genetic and structural basis of this unusual phenotype. The project’s outreach program will (1) encourage natural history investigations by middle-school students, (2) outfit a mobile lab to bring the same educational content to classrooms, and (3) include LSAMP undergraduate students in both research and outreach.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.

该行动资助 2020 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。主要目的是利用甲虫极其多样化的雄性配子（精子）和雌性生殖道（FRT）来探索生殖系统的快速进化。研究人员将从地面甲虫（Carabidae 科）、thirligig beetles（Gyrinidae 科）和 Adephaga 亚目中的相关甲虫（约 40,000 个物种）收集配子-FRT 结构、行为和多组学数据，以扩大我们对配子-FRT 共同多样化及其在新物种发生中的作用的理解。雄性配子通常被认为是作为单个细胞发挥作用，但许多地面甲虫和旋转甲虫通过用富含蛋白质的杆将它们连接在一起，从而将它们组合在一起（通常称为“结合体”），该杆在密切相关的物种之间显示出明显的差异。这些结合物在 FRT 内协同移动，但单个雄配子必须在受精前解离。研究人员将利用并进一步开发adephagan甲虫系统，通过进一步促进科学领域博士后研究员的职业生涯，以及在该项目的各个阶段（从通过引导徒步收集标本到与实验室合作的实验室练习）中纳入历史上在STEM学科中代表性不足的群体中的中学生和本科生，来推进进化生物学和男女相互作用领域的发展。 研究人员将在步甲科和 Gyrinidae 中进行密集采样，收集约 300 个物种的多变量配子和 FRT 形态学数据，并进行体内研究，并在系统发育框架中进行分析，以解析雄配子 - FRT 相互作用的生物学以及这些谱系中配子 - FRT 共同多样化和速率共同变异的模式。配子-FRT 共同多样化可能是“物种形成的引擎”，但这一预测从未得到检验。将推断出无食动物的谱系多样化率和雄性配子的进化率以及 FRT 性状，以检验具有更精细精子的物种将具有更快的物种形成率的预测。将生成代表独立精子样式起源的选定物种的睾丸转录组和无配子精子样式蛋白质组，以探索这种不寻常表型的遗传和结构基础。该项目的推广计划将 (1) 鼓励中学生进行自然历史调查，(2) 配备一个移动实验室，将相同的教育内容带入课堂，(3) 让 LSAMP 本科生参与研究和推广。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审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。