NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Uncovering the Mechanisms of Convergent Tooth Loss in Frogs

2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：揭示青蛙收敛牙齿缺失的机制

• 批准号: 2109344
• 负责人: Daniel Paluh
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Paluh, Daniel J
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109344&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, 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. Teeth are present in most living vertebrates. However, complete tooth loss has evolved in a few groups of fishes, reptiles, and mammals. Though the arrangement and condition of amphibian teeth has been poorly studied, recent work shows that frogs have lost teeth more than 20 times. The mechanisms underlying tooth loss in frogs are unknown, but examining possible developmental, genetic, and environmental factors will provide insight to how predictable and repeatable this process is from an evolutionary point of view. The aim of this project is to determine if there is a core set of genes required for tooth development, and to test if the environment (temperature) can affect tooth development. The fellowship will facilitate mentorship training by fostering research opportunities for undergraduate students. Digital anatomy resources will be created for middle school teachers and students to provide real examples of evolution through natural selection using museum specimens. The proliferation of teeth in fishes and amniotes is mediated by at least four major signaling pathways, and the loss of different signals arrests dental development and underlies tooth loss in birds, turtles, and some mammals. With phylogenetically widespread tooth loss and separate evolutionary losses on upper and lower jaws, frogs offer an unparalleled opportunity for investigating the mechanisms of repeated trait loss. The fellow will use immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and transcriptomics to characterize dental development in amphibians and assess if different signals arrest tooth development among species that have independently lost teeth. Within tetrapods, enamel and dentin are found only in teeth, and these tissues are formed by proteins encoded by tooth-specific, non-pleiotropic genes. Comparative genomics will be used to identify if enamel and dentin genes have become non-functional in toothless frogs via novel inactivating mutations. Environmental factors may impact dental anatomy by altering developmental rate. An experimental approach will be used to test if one such factor, temperature, impacts the anatomy and expression patterns of frog dentition. Creation of digital resources for anatomy education and PI participation in mentoring undergraduate students and outreach will broaden the impact of the project.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.

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。牙齿存在于大多数活着的脊椎动物中。然而，在少数鱼类、爬行动物和哺乳动物中，牙齿已经完全脱落。尽管两栖动物牙齿的排列和状况一直没有得到很好的研究，但最近的研究表明，青蛙已经失去了20多次牙齿。青蛙牙齿脱落的机制尚不清楚，但检测可能的发育、遗传和环境因素将从进化的角度洞察这一过程的可预测性和可重复性。该项目的目的是确定是否存在牙齿发育所需的核心基因集，并测试环境(温度)是否会影响牙齿发育。该奖学金将通过培养本科生的研究机会来促进导师培训。将为中学教师和学生创建数字解剖学资源，利用博物馆标本提供通过自然选择进化的真实例子。鱼类和羊膜动物牙齿的增殖至少由四个主要信号通路介导，而不同信号的丢失阻碍了牙齿的发育，并导致鸟类、海龟和一些哺乳动物的牙齿丧失。由于系统发育上广泛的牙齿丢失和上下颌骨的单独进化丢失，青蛙为研究重复特征丢失的机制提供了一个无与伦比的机会。这位研究员将使用免疫组织化学、原位杂交和转录学来表征两栖动物的牙齿发育，并评估不同的信号是否会阻止独立失去牙齿的物种的牙齿发育。在四足动物中，釉质和牙本质只存在于牙齿中，这些组织是由牙齿特有的非多效性基因编码的蛋白质组成的。比较基因组学将被用来确定釉质和牙本质基因是否通过新的失活突变在无牙青蛙中变得不起作用。环境因素可能通过改变发育速度来影响牙齿解剖。一个实验方法将被用来测试其中一个因素，温度，是否会影响青蛙牙齿的解剖和表达模式。为解剖学教育创建数字资源，以及PI参与指导本科生和外展活动将扩大该项目的影响。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。