NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Ecological and evolutionary dynamics of biparental inbreeding and outbreeding in the intertidal copepod

该行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该研究金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。配偶之间的相关程度，以及它们之间共享的共同祖先的数量，是未来几代生物进化的重要因素。近亲繁殖和远系繁殖代表了许多生物体的一系列繁殖策略，两者都有成本和收益，可以稳定或推动交配模式向这一系列的一端或另一端发展。这项研究旨在促进我们对为什么近亲繁殖在某些物种中普遍存在，以及环境和遗传因素如何有助于近亲繁殖和远系繁殖之间的平衡的理解。该研究员将获得宝贵的经验，客座讲授本科课程，指导本科生在一个独立的研究项目，并在设计一个基于探究的学习活动，为K-12学生专注于进化。 最近的证据表明，在海洋无脊椎动物的生物特征和近亲繁殖之间的关联，近亲繁殖和远系繁殖之间的动态起着重要的作用，在驱动生殖模式和传播形式之间的重大进化转变。适应性分化的环境异质性可能是一个关键的过程，有利于维护coadapted基因型，并有助于在一些海洋无脊椎动物与单独的交配表型近亲繁殖的惊人幅度。本研究采用多代育种实验，基因组学，细胞测定，并在潮间带桡足类（Tigriopus californicus）的健身评估，以调查如何交配系统出现的基因组，表型和环境。该研究解决了当地适应促进近亲繁殖交配系统进化的假设，并使用一个常见的花园实验来测试在原产地匹配和不匹配极端温度的条件下近亲繁殖衰退的严重程度。此外，该研究评估了限制交配系统的遗传因素，并量化了亲本相关性范围内的近亲繁殖和远系繁殖抑郁症。在进化和保护遗传学领域的杰出研究人员的指导下，该研究员将发展多方面的技能，重点是多代杂交，计算基因组学的现代方法和人口水平的适应模式。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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. The degree that mates are related, and the amount of common ancestry shared between them is an important element in the evolution of future generations of organisms. Inbreeding and outbreeding represent a spectrum of breeding strategies for many organisms, and both have costs and benefits that can stabilize or push patterns of mating toward one end of this spectrum or the other. This research aims to advance our understanding of why inbreeding is often prevalent in some species, and how environmental and genetic factors contribute to the balance between inbreeding and outbreeding. The fellow will gain invaluable experience guest lecturing in undergraduate courses, mentoring an undergraduate in an independent research project, and in designing an inquiry-based learning activity for K–12 students focused on evolution. Recent evidence of associations among organismal traits and inbreeding in marine invertebrates suggest that the dynamics between inbreeding and outbreeding plays an important role in driving major evolutionary transitions between reproductive modes and forms of dispersal. Adaptive differentiation in response to environmental heterogeneity may be a key process favoring the maintenance of coadapted genotypes and contributing to the surprising magnitude of inbreeding in some marine invertebrates with separate mating phenotypes. This research employs multigenerational breeding experiments, genomics, cellular assays, and assessments of fitness in the intertidal copepod (Tigriopus californicus) to investigate how mating systems emerge from genomes, phenotypes, and environments. The research addresses the hypothesis that local adaptation facilitates the evolution of inbreeding mating systems, and uses a common garden experiment to test the severity of inbreeding depression under conditions that match and mismatch temperature extremes in the site of origin. Moreover, the research evaluates the genetic factors that constrain mating systems, and quantifies inbreeding and outbreeding depression across a spectrum of parental relatedness. Under the guidance of prominent researchers in the fields of evolution and conservation genetics, the fellow will develop a multifaceted skillset focused on multigenerational hybridization, modern approaches to computational genomics, and population-level patterns of adaptation.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.