NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Towards an integrative understanding of conspicuous signals: phenotype, genotype, and adaptive function of a selected trait

该行动为2020财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该项目旨在通过两种方式扩大生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与：(1)通过实施一个将直接增加博士后科学家多样性的计划；(2)通过资助研究员从事功能基因组学的新研究。这项研究调查了红背细尾鹩莺（一种小型澳大利亚鸟类）是如何长出红色羽毛的，以及这种个体的红色如何影响雄性繁殖的成功。将信号如何产生与相关的生殖结果联系起来是进化中的一个基本问题，但这些组成部分通常是独立研究的。这项研究将通过识别红色色素的基因来描述红色羽毛是如何产生的，并将使用长期的繁殖数据来跟踪不同羽毛颜色的雄性红背鹪鹩的繁殖成功率。长久以来，男性的华丽特征吸引了进化生物学家的想象力。然而，研究这些机制的孤立方法可能会阻碍对这些特征的综合理解。拟议的研究跨越了不同的探究水平，以调查红背鹪鹩（Malurus melanocephalus）性别选择的红色羽毛的进化。该研究员建议探索负责产生和维持色调变化的近似和最终机制，这种变化在物种范围内变化很大。该研究员将在澳大利亚收集样本，并使用基因组和转录组学工具确定与颜色产生相关的候选位点。此外，这项工作将确定基因座上的选择方向和强度，以响应观察到的雌性对红色羽毛的偏好。该研究员将利用两个种群的人口统计数据，并使用定量建模来量化羽毛的适应功能及其与繁殖成功的关系。整合影响适应度的生态相关性状与全物种基因组数据将证明对理解表型进化至关重要。该项目更广泛的影响旨在通过开发一个项目，在申请博士后职位的关键职业阶段，针对和支持来自代表性不足背景的研究生，缩小代表性不足的少数民族科学家的差距。拟议的研究将通过为未被充分代表的少数民族学生提供在高中和本科阶段获得研究经验的机会，进一步扩大多样性。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 2020, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. This project aims to broaden participation of groups underrepresented in biology in two ways: (1) by implementing a program that will directly increase the diversity of postdoctoral scientists and (2) by funding the fellow to engage in novel research in functional genomics. This research investigates how red-backed fairywrens, a small Australian bird, produce their red feathers, and how this individual redness may affect male reproductive success. Connecting how a signal is produced to the associated reproductive outcomes is a fundamental question in evolution, yet these components are often studied independently. This research will characterize how red feathers are produced by identifying the genes underlying red pigmentation and will use long-term breeding data to track the reproductive success of red-backed fairywren males that vary in plumage color.Showy male traits have long captured the imagination of evolutionary biologists. However, insular approaches to studying these mechanisms can hinder an integrated understanding of these traits. The proposed research spans different levels of inquiry to investigate the evolution of the sexually-selected, red plumage in the red-backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus). The fellow proposes to explore the proximate and ultimate mechanisms responsible for the production and maintenance of hue variation, which varies extensively across the species' range. The fellow will collect samples in Australia and use genomic and transcriptomic tools to identify candidate loci associated with color production. In addition, this work will identify the direction and strength of selection on loci in response to the observed female preference for redder plumage. The fellow will leverage demographic data from two populations and use quantitative modeling to quantify the adaptive function of plumage and its relationship to reproductive success. The integration of an ecologically relevant trait that influences fitness with species-wide genomic data will prove critical in understanding phenotypic evolution. The project's broader impacts are designed to close a gap for underrepresented minority scientists by developing a program to target and support graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds when they are at the critical career stage of applying to postdoctoral positions. The proposed research will further broaden diversity by providing opportunities for underrepresented minority students to gain research experience at the high school and undergraduate level.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.