NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Understanding the genetic and physiologic adaptations to thermally challenging environments in Chinook Salmon.

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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. The fellow’s research will investigate the capacity of Chinook salmon to adapt to warming stream temperatures as a consequence of climate change. Like many aquatic organisms Chinook salmon are struggling to adapt as the climate warms, and populations have been steadily declining over the last several decades. Given the cultural and ecological significance of Chinook salmon there is significant interest in restoring this species to its once abundant levels, however the ability of these fish to cope with the consequences of climate change are not known. This research will investigate the physiological determinants of thermal tolerance in Chinook salmon and determine the capacity of existing populations along the west coast of North America to adapt to warming stream temperatures. This work has the potential to benefit society by improving our understanding of salmon thermal tolerance and adaptive capacity. Additionally, the fellow will also recruit and train junior scientists from minority-severing undergraduate programs with a specific emphasis on academic network building to improve the career trajectory of the trainees and broaden participation of underrepresented groups in science. This work will leverage naturally occurring variation across populations of Chinook salmon to understand how standing genetic and environmental variation interact to produce adaptive phenotypes. This work will be accomplished through two aims. In aim one, the fellow will utilize CRISPR to introduce mutations in mitochondrial metabolism genes to test the hypothesis that the ability to maintain mitochondrial metabolism in cardiac muscle cells during thermal stress is a key determent of thermal tolerance. In aim two, the fellow will integrate a suite of physiological assays with transcriptomics in both fish from warm southern locations and cooler northern locations to determine the genetic and phenotypic adaptations to warm stream temperatures and assess the adaptive capacity of these populations. The training program the fellow will receive includes both methodological training including CRISPR and high throughput phenomics in addition to lab management and scientific mentorship training both in the United States and Canada.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.