NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Leveraging rapid evolution to study the dynamics of polygenic adaptation

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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 thatwill contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. The fellow will conduct researchfocusing on polygenic traits, which are defined as the physical characteristics, or phenotypes, ofan organism that are influenced by many genes located throughout an individual’s genome.Examples of polygenic traits include numerous human diseases and the resilience of coral reefsto global climate change. The fellow will conduct experiments to understand: (1) how geneticdifferences between individuals give rise to differences in the physical expression of polygenictraits and (2) how polygenic traits evolve in natural populations. Through this, the fellow largelyaims to lend insight into the extent to which genetic information can be used to accurately predictan individual’s phenotype. Throughout the duration of this fellowship, the fellow will engage inoutreach efforts that specifically aim to increase the participation of underrepresented groups inevolutionary biology.To resolve the genetic basis and evolutionary dynamics of polygenic traits, the fellowwill study populations of Drosophila melanogaster as they rapidly evolve in response to seasonalfluctuations in the environment. This system provides a lens to directly observe evolution andselection, both on individual genes and specific polygenic traits throughout the course ofadaptation. This work will focus on three polygenic traits in D. melanogaster with demonstratedecological relevance in natural populations. The first aim of the fellow’s research will involvemapping the genetic basis of each trait as it rapidly evolves between seasons. Through this, thefellow aims to determine whether the genotype-to-phenotype map is stable during evolution, orwhether the genetic basis of polygenic traits is altered by the evolutionary process. The secondaim will leverage these results, in combination with 7 years of existing data, to explore the extent towhich those genetic polymorphisms that underpin the phenotypic variation of a polygenic traitare the same as those that respond to natural selection and drive the evolution of the trait throughtime. The fellow will further gain extensive formal and informal training in preparation for acareer of academic research and teaching.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.