NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: : Investigating how neopolyploidy affects the core microbiome and how the extended phenotype can facilitate ecological establishment

该行动资助2021财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。多倍体，或全基因组复制，经常作为一种产生新物种的机制。然而，由于与二倍体亲本争夺有限的空间和资源，预计第一代多倍体或新多倍体在出现后不久就会面临局部灭绝的高风险。尽管人们期望新的多倍体在出现后不久就会在当地灭绝，但我们在自然界中看到了不成比例的高数量的成熟多倍体。这项研究将通过调查哪些因素可以驱动新多倍体种群的建立来解决这一明显的知识差距。该项目将具体描述环境资源供应和微生物相互作用如何影响新多倍体在其二倍体亲本存在下持续存在并形成的能力。本研究的目的是通过验证两个假设来了解新多倍体建立的生态驱动因素：1)依赖于外部环境，2)由扩展表型：新多倍体基因型及其微生物组促进。测试这些假设的方法是首先描述新多倍体如何影响微生物群落和塑造宿主表型。其次，将多代竞争实验与现代共存理论相结合，预测二倍体及其新多倍体后代之间的竞争结果，以及在表型扩展的情况下是否会有所不同。本研究的预期结果是：1)新四倍体如何影响微生物组的组成和多样性；2)微生物组如何影响新四倍体与其二倍体祖先的竞争能力；3)这些模式是否随谱系的基因型或环境资源梯度而变化。该研究员将使用二倍体和合成新四倍体浮萍，这是一种独特的非常适合这项研究的系统，因为它们具有快速的生成时间，并且足够紧凑，可以在各种环境条件下进行高复制。此外，本研究将纳入来自代表性不足群体的高中生和本科生的指导，以开展独立的研究项目，并促进与当地城际教室就生态原则开展的外展活动。“这个奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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. Polyploidy, or whole-genome duplication, has frequently acted as a mechanism of generating new species. However, first-generation polyploids, or neopolyploids, are expected to suffer from a high risk of local extinction shortly after they arise due to competition with their diploid parents for limited space and resources. Despite the expectation that neopolyploids should go locally extinct shortly after they arise, we see a disproportionately high number of established polyploids in nature. This research will address this apparent gap in knowledge by investigating what factors can drive the establishment of neopolyploid populations. The project will specifically characterize how environmental resource supply and microbial interactions affect the ability of neopolyploids to persist in the presence of their diploid parents and become established.The goal of this research is to understand the ecological drivers of neopolyploid establishment by testing two hypotheses: that neopolyploid establishment is 1) dependent on the external environment, and 2) is facilitated by the extended phenotype: neopolyploid genotypes and their microbiomes. The approach to testing these hypotheses is to first characterize how neopolyploidy affects the microbiome community and shapes host phenotypes. Second, to predict the outcome of competition between diploids and their neopolyploid descendants and whether it differs given the extended phenotype, multigenerational competition experiments will be combined with modern coexistence theory. The expected outcomes of this research are to understand 1) how neotetraploidy affects the microbiome composition and diversity and 2) how the microbiome affects the competitive ability of neotetraploids against their diploid ancestors, and 3) whether these patterns vary with the genotype of a lineage or across environmental resource gradients. The fellow will use diploid and synthetic neotetraploid duckweeds, which is a uniquely well-suited system for this research since they have rapid generation times and are compact enough to allow high replication across various environmental conditions. Additionally, this research will incorporate the mentorship of high school and undergraduate students from under-represented groups to carry out independent research projects, as well as facilitating outreach activities with local intercity classrooms on ecological principles."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.