NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Extremes in the interplay: the development and effects of gut microorganisms within Earth’s largest terrestrial species

该行动资助2021财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式为《生活规则》领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。该研究员将研究被送到肯尼亚孤儿院的非洲象孤儿肠道内的微生物（细菌、真菌、病毒等）。利用粪便样本，研究员将确定孤儿体内存在哪些微生物，以确定微生物是否在孤儿从野外转移到人类照顾并最终返回野外时发生变化。该研究员还将调查大象的健康和行为是否会因微生物的存在而改变。因此，这项研究将考虑生物体是如何与生活在它们体内的其他生物统一起来的。该研究员可能会发现新的微生物物种，自然资源保护主义者可能会利用这种对微生物群-宿主动力学的新理解，来提高圈养的濒危物种个体在被释放到野外时的存活率。这一信息的传播将接触到不同的公众，包括通过与肯尼亚人的国际合作。数据将从肯尼亚桑布鲁的三个地区收集：Reteti大象保护区（Reteti）， Sera犀牛保护区（Sera），以及进行大象长期监测项目的桑布鲁和布法罗斯普林斯国家保护区（保护区）。从Reteti开始，每两周从孤儿身上收集粪便样本，然后将其释放到Sera。与被放归的孤儿生活在相同环境的色拉县野象，以及与被放归的孤儿生活在保护区的同龄野象，也将在研究中被采集样本。这些野生大象粪便样本将被用来评估孤儿是否能发展出与野生大象相似的微生物群落。该研究员将测量孤儿的环境、生理和行为，数据包括但不限于身体状况评分、饮食记录、体重记录、肠道蠕虫负荷、糖皮质激素水平、焦点行为跟踪和GPS项圈固定。该研究员将接受鉴定微生物的实验室技术培训，并安排在肯尼亚新建的实验室使用和分享这些技能。该研究员将与赞助机构和几个肯尼亚野生动物组织合作，领导数据收集工作，与肯尼亚研究人员交流知识并撰写论文。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 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 Fellow will study microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc.) living in the gut of African elephant orphans brought to an orphanage in Kenya. Using dung samples, the Fellow will identify which microorganisms are present within the orphans in order to determine if microorganisms change as the orphans move from the wild to human care and eventually back into the wild. The Fellow will also investigate whether the elephants’ health and behavior change according to which microorganisms are present. This research will therefore consider how living organisms are unified with other living things that live inside them. The Fellow is likely to discover new microbial species, and conservationists may use this new understanding of microbiome-host dynamics to increase the survival of captive-raised individuals of endangered species when they are released into the wild. Dissemination of this information will reach a diverse public audience, including through an international collaboration with Kenyans. Data will be collected from three areas within Samburu, Kenya: the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary (Reteti), Sera Rhino Sanctuary (Sera), and Samburu and Buffalo Springs National Reserves (the reserves) where a long-term monitoring project of elephants takes place. Dung samples will be collected every two weeks from the orphans beginning at Reteti and after their release into Sera. Wild elephants in Sera, who have the same environment as the released orphans, and wild elephants of the same age as the orphans at the reserves will also be sampled during the study. These wild elephant dung samples will be used to assess whether orphans can develop microbial communities similar to wild individuals. The Fellow will measure the environment, physiology and behavior of orphans with data including but not limited to body condition scores, diet records, weight records, intestinal worm loads, glucocorticoid levels, focal behavioral follows, and GPS collar fixes. The Fellow will be trained in laboratory techniques to identify microorganisms and arrange to employ and share these skills at a newly built laboratory in Kenya. The Fellow will lead data collection in collaboration with the sponsoring institution and several Kenyan wildlife organizations, exchanging knowledge and writing papers with Kenyan researchers.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.