NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Integrating genetic-morphologic concepts of diversity in ecological and environmental context

这一行动为NSF 2021财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金，综合研究调查了支配基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，这些研究员将以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。目前，我们对地球上最大、最关键的生态系统之一--海洋浮游生物--如何表达多样性的了解有限。这使得很难预测气候变化和迫在眉睫的多样性丧失对社会所依赖的关键生态系统功能的影响，例如初级生产和生物体之间的食物网相互作用。为了了解浮游生物的多样性及其重要性，这个项目将研究多样性是如何在一个丰富的海洋原生动物群体中表现出来的，即多胱氨酸放射虫。研究将集中在遗传、形态和生态信息的系统整合上，以提高我们对不同尺度的放射虫多样性及其环境背景的了解。为了实现更广泛的参与，该研究员将指导主办机构的本科生，并通过箭牌海洋科学中心的推广计划让公众参与当地相关的海洋科学。最近对分子多样性的调查显示，放射虫物种比基于形态的研究多一个数量级。分子分类学和形态分类学之间的不协调使得人们不可能准确地找出这种差异的原因，需要重新评估经典的物种概念和分子方法。为了解决这个问题，这位研究员将调查遗传和形态多样性概念之间的关系和差异。放射虫样本将在Aloha站(夏威夷)的多个深度收集，并根据骨骼形态和18S rRNA基因V4区域的测序分析进行分类。遗传变异的模式，加上对实物标本的观察及其生态位信息，将被用来确定遗传多样性如何在形态和生态上表现出来。将使用阿罗哈站现有的环境和生物元数据来解释环境中放射虫多样性等级的作用。研究产品将包括新的放射虫遗传条形码，这将提高正在进行的监测气候变化中全球浮游生物多样性动态的努力的准确性。该研究员将接受浮游生物活体采样和分子分析方法方面的培训，并在学术指导和外展方面获得重要经验。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 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. Currently, we have a limited understanding of how diversity is expressed in one of the largest and most critical ecosystems on the planet: marine plankton. This makes it difficult to predict the impacts of climate change and imminent diversity loss on key ecosystem functions that society relies on such as primary production and food web interactions between organisms. In order to understand plankton diversity and its importance, this project will investigate how diversity is expressed in an abundant group of marine protists, the polycystine radiolarians. Research will center on the systematic integration of genetic, morphologic, and ecologic information to improve our knowledge of different scales of radiolarian diversity and its environmental context. To achieve broader participation, the Fellow will mentor undergraduate students at the host institution, and engage the public in locally relevant marine science through outreach programs at the Wrigley Marine Science Center.Recent surveys of molecular diversity have revealed over an order of magnitude more radiolarian species than morphology-based studies. Poor harmonization between molecular and morphological taxonomy has made it impossible to pinpoint the reasons for this discrepancy, demanding a reevaluation of classic species concepts and molecular methods. To address this, the Fellow will investigate relationships and differences between genetic and morphological concepts of diversity. Radiolarian samples will be collected from multiple depths at Station ALOHA (Hawaii) and classified based on skeletal morphology as well as sequencing analysis of the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene. Patterns of genetic variation paired with observations of physical specimens and their ecological niche information will be used to determine how genetic diversity is expressed both morphologically and ecologically. Environmental and biological metadata available for Station ALOHA will be used to interpret the function of hierarchical levels of radiolarian diversity in environmental context. Research products will include new radiolarian genetic barcodes, which will improve the accuracy of ongoing efforts to monitor global plankton diversity dynamics in a changing climate. The Fellow will undergo training in live plankton sampling and molecular analytical methods, as well as gain vital experience in academic mentoring and outreach.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.