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

这一行动资助了2020财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学领域代表性不足群体的参与。该研究金支持一项针对该研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加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)通过实施一项计划，直接增加博士后科学家的多样性；(2)通过资助研究员从事功能基因组学的新研究。这项研究调查了一种澳大利亚小鸟红背仙女是如何产生红色羽毛的，以及这种个体的红色可能如何影响雄性繁殖成功。将信号如何产生与相关的生殖结果联系起来是进化论中的一个基本问题，但这些组成部分往往是独立研究的。这项研究将通过识别红色色素沉着的基因来表征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红背仙女雄鸟的繁殖成功。炫耀的雄性特征长期以来一直吸引着进化生物学家的想象力。然而，孤立地研究这些机制可能会阻碍对这些特征的综合理解。这项拟议的研究跨越了不同的调查水平，以调查红背仙女(Malurus Blackocephalus)性别选择的红色羽毛的进化。这位研究员建议探索负责产生和维持色调变化的最近和最终的机制，色调变化在物种的范围内差异很大。这位研究员将在澳大利亚收集样本，并使用基因组和转录组工具来确定与颜色产生相关的候选基因座。此外，这项工作将确定基因座上选择的方向和强度，以响应观察到的雌性对红色羽毛的偏好。该研究员将利用来自两个种群的人口统计数据，并使用定量模型来量化羽毛的适应功能及其与生殖成功的关系。影响适合度的生态相关性状与全物种基因组数据的整合将被证明是理解表型进化的关键。该项目的更广泛影响旨在通过开发一个项目，针对处于申请博士后职位的关键职业阶段的来自代表性不足背景的研究生，并为他们提供支持，从而弥合代表不足的少数族裔科学家的差距。这项拟议的研究将进一步扩大多样性，为未被充分代表的少数族裔学生提供在高中和本科水平获得研究经验的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.