NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: An integrative investigation of host-parasite coevolution across heterogeneous environments

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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. Host-parasite interactions provide a window into how environmental conditions shape traits of interest, which is a key process in evolution that generates biological diversity. This research aims to understand these processes using the Northern Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus, which display impressive geographic variation in feather color) and their parasitic feather lice as a model system. Understanding how environmental change induces changes in traits provides insight into how species evolved and may respond to climate change. Bobwhites are a commercially important game species that have experienced population declines of 70% over the past forty years. The interactions between bobwhites and their feather lice are poorly known; this research will provide insight into how feather lice impact bobwhite populations and may contribute to conservation strategy for this species, which is actively managed in 25 states. To increase broader participation in science, the Fellow will develop public exhibits and educational activities based on this research through the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.Parasitism is the predominant life history strategy on earth, yet we have a limited understanding of how host-parasite interactions shape the coevolution of traits in wild populations. Bobwhites and their feather lice are a tractable wild system for testing current evolutionary theory and developing new models of host-parasite coevolution across heterogeneous environments. The Fellow will analyze phenotypic and ecological data, including parasite abundance, to assess whether feather lice are associated with plumage phenotypes in bobwhites. The Fellow will quantify phenotypic and genetic data from lice collected from bobwhite specimens to assess the effects of plumage variation on the phenotypes and genotypes of coadapted lice. Finally, the Fellow will use cophylogenetic analyses and whole-genome sequence data from range-wide pairs of coadapted bobwhites and lice to test current theories of coevolution and identify regions of the genomes of both species that are under selection due to environmental variation and host-parasite interactions. Through these activities, the Fellow will support the mentorship and training of two students from underrepresented STEM groups. Additionally, this research will be conducted in a museum setting, and will develop and improve methods for collecting phenotypic and genomic data from museum specimens.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.