NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: What is the predictability of hybrid genome evolution across ecological contexts?

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。杂交长期以来一直是进化生物学家的兴趣所在，以了解物种在遗传水平上的相互作用如何影响变异。研究杂交可以为我们感兴趣的性状的遗传基础以及新物种如何进化提供有价值的数据。杂交可以自然发生，也可以作为人类活动的结果。本项目将研究自然杂交和人工诱导杂交的虹鳟物种如何影响这些物种的表型。在整个太平洋西北部，o.c. clarkii（沿海割喉鳟鱼）和o.c. mykiss（钢头鳟鱼）是生态和文化上重要的杂交鳟鱼物种，使它们成为本研究的理想物种。这项工作将对进一步科学理解环境如何影响杂交基因组进化以及它是如何可预测的至关重要。拟议的NSF PRFB项目建立在先前的工作基础上，以解决进化生物学研究中的一个主要空白：杂交基因组是如何进化的？本研究将评估控制杂交如何影响物种适应和进化的生命规则，特别是生态环境如何影响基因组进化。来自两种鳟鱼的实验和实验室生产的杂交的基因组和表型数据将用于(1)研究杂交如何影响杂交的染色体和基因组景观。来自杂交组合的配对生活史数据将(2)阐明杂交的适合度和表型效应。最后，来自自然种群的基因组数据将(3)证明是否在自然种群和人为杂交种群中检测到基因组渗入的平行信号。用于诊断基因组渗进谱系、量化基因流和估计杂交事件时间的计算方法在鳟鱼物种中可以应用于不同的分类群。对杂交适应度和表型结果的研究将为杂交文献中目前缺乏的杂交适应度和表型（例如基因组不相容）的遗传基础提供候选对象。PI还将指导来自代表性不足社区的高中生进行计算基因组项目，分析其他混合基因组数据集。然后，PI和学生们将在研讨会上共同向部落、非营利组织和政府机构的保护工作者介绍这项研究的结果，这些机构正在研究这些杂交类群。这项工作将扩展该PI的计算基因组研究技能，进一步促进她的职业发展，成为顶级研究机构的进化遗传学家。该奖项反映了美国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. Hybridization has been of long-standing interest to evolutionary biologists to understand how species interactions at the genetic level affect variation. Studying hybridization can provide valuable data on the genetic basis of traits of interest, and how new species evolve. Hybridization can occur naturally or as a consequence of human activities. This project will investigate how hybridization among natural and human-induced hybridizing Oncorhynchus trout species affects these species phenotypes. Throughout the Pacific Northwest, O. c. clarkii (coastal cutthroat trout) and O. mykiss (Steelhead) are ecologically and culturally significant trout species that hybridize, making them ideal species for this research. This work will be crucial to furthering scientific understanding of how the environment influences hybrid genome evolution and how predictable it is. The proposed NSF PRFB project builds on previous work to address a major gap in evolutionary biology research: how do hybrid genomes evolve? This research will evaluate the Rules of Life that govern how hybridization affects species’ adaptation and evolution, specifically how ecological context impacts genome evolution. Genomic and phenotypic data from experimental, lab-produced crosses of two trout species will be used to (1) investigate how hybridization impacts the chromosomal and genomic landscape of hybrids. Paired life-history data from hybrid crosses will (2) elucidate the fitness and phenotypic effects of hybridization. Finally, genomic data produced from natural populations will (3) demonstrate if parallel signals of genomic introgression are detected across natural and anthropogenically hybridizing populations. The computational methods developed for diagnosing the ancestry of tracts of genomic introgression, quantifying gene flow, and estimating timing of hybridization events in trout species can be applied across taxa. Research on the fitness and phenotypic consequences of hybridization will provide candidates for the genetic basis of hybrid fitness and phenotypes (e.g., genomic incompatibilities) currently lacking in hybridization literature. The PI will also mentor high school students from underrepresented communities in computational genomic projects, analyzing other hybrid genomic data sets. The PI and students will then co-present the findings from this research to conservation practitioners from tribal, non-profit and governmental institutions working on these hybridizing taxa in a workshop. This work will expand the computational genomic research skills of this PI, furthering her professional development for a career as an evolutionary geneticist for a top research institute.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.