NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Understanding gut microbiome variation in the context of an emerging wildlife pathogen

2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：了解新兴野生动物病原体背景下的肠道微生物组变化

• 批准号: 2109702
• 负责人: Bianca Brown
• 金额: $ 20.7万
• 依托单位: Brown, Bianca
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109702&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021, Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. As evidenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging infectious diseases are a major threat to humans and animals. For wildlife, understanding how hosts respond to new diseases as they emerge has significant implications for species conservation. Given the role of the microbiome as an important factor that can protect and exacerbate response to infection, the Fellow will investigate pathogen-induced microbiome dynamics in the context of an emerging wildlife disease. The Fellow is committed to training underrepresented groups at the undergraduate and graduate levels from the US and South Africa to characterize pathogens and host microbiome interactions with the goal of preparing the next generation of scientists with the tools to understand and confront wildlife diseases. This proposal investigates interactions between the pathogen Mycobacterium bovis, the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis (bTB), and the gut microbiota in wild African buffalo as a model for understanding the consequences of pathogen-induced microbiome changes. bTB has a wasting effect that results in the emaciation of infected hosts as the disease progress. Thus, the Fellow will test the hypothesis that bTB affects the gut microbiome at both the individual host and population levels, and these changes influence host metabolism in ways that exacerbate the wasting effects of bTB. The Fellow will use a combination of field studies and experiments to characterize gut microbiome and host performance of wild buffalo before and during bTB infection under controlled and natural conditions. Both 16s rRNA and shotgun metagenomics sequencing will be used to characterize microbiome composition and function. Additionally, gas chromatography and in vitro-fertilization of microbes will be used to measure short-chain fatty acid and methane production, respectively. The proposal will address three aims: (i) identify and characterize gut microbiome changes during bTB infection, (ii) quantify host and gut microbiome metabolism in the context of bTB infection, and (iii) investigate whether bTB shapes the gut microbiome at the host population scale. Under the guidance of Drs. Vanessa Ezenwa and Todd Callaway, the Fellow will advance and expand research training in molecular and disease ecology and animal science; enhance communication skills through manuscript writing and teaching; and develop strong mentorship skills by training diverse cohorts of students.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.

这项行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大了生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。该研究金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。正如COVID-19大流行所证明，新出现的传染病是人类和动物的主要威胁。对于野生动物来说，了解宿主如何应对新出现的疾病对物种保护具有重要意义。鉴于微生物组作为一个重要因素的作用，可以保护和加剧对感染的反应，研究员将调查病原体引起的微生物组动态的背景下，一个新出现的野生动物疾病。该研究员致力于培训来自美国和南非的本科生和研究生水平的代表性不足的群体，以表征病原体和宿主微生物组相互作用，目的是为下一代科学家提供了解和应对野生动物疾病的工具。该提案调查了病原体牛分枝杆菌（牛结核病（bTB）的病原体）和野生非洲布法罗肠道微生物群之间的相互作用，作为了解病原体引起的微生物群变化的后果的模型。bTB具有消耗效应，随着疾病进展，导致受感染宿主消瘦。因此，研究员将测试bTB在个体宿主和群体水平上影响肠道微生物组的假设，这些变化以加剧bTB消耗效应的方式影响宿主代谢。该研究员将结合实地研究和实验，在受控和自然条件下，描述野生布法罗在感染bTB之前和期间的肠道微生物组和宿主表现。16 s rRNA和鸟枪宏基因组测序将用于表征微生物组的组成和功能。此外，气相色谱法和微生物体外受精将分别用于测量短链脂肪酸和甲烷产量。该提案将解决三个目标：（i）确定和表征bTB感染期间的肠道微生物组变化，（ii）量化bTB感染背景下的宿主和肠道微生物组代谢，以及（iii）调查bTB是否在宿主人群规模上塑造肠道微生物组。在Vanessa Ezenwa和托德·卡拉威博士的指导下，研究员将推进和扩大分子和疾病生态学以及动物科学方面的研究培训;通过撰写手稿和教学提高沟通技巧;并通过培训不同的学生群体来发展强大的指导技能。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。