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

2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：相互作用的极端情况：地球最大陆地物种肠道微生物的发展和影响

• 批准号: 2109816
• 负责人: Jenna Parker
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Parker, Jenna Marie
• 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: 2021-08-01 至 2023-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2109816&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

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.

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。该研究员将研究微生物(细菌、真菌、病毒等)。生活在被带到肯尼亚一家孤儿院的非洲象孤儿的肠道中。利用粪便样本，这位研究员将识别孤儿体内存在哪些微生物，以便确定随着孤儿从野外转移到人类照顾，并最终回到野外，微生物是否会发生变化。这位研究员还将调查大象的健康和行为是否会根据存在的微生物而改变。因此，这项研究将考虑生物有机体是如何与生活在其中的其他生物相统一的。这位研究员可能会发现新的微生物物种，自然资源保护者可能会利用这种对微生物-宿主动态的新理解来提高圈养的濒危物种个体的存活率，当它们被释放到野外时。将通过与肯尼亚人的国际合作，将这一信息传播给不同的公众受众。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)，以及桑布鲁和布法罗温泉国家保护区(保护区)，在那里对大象进行长期监测项目。将从Reteti开始每两周从孤儿那里收集粪便样本，并在他们被释放到Sera后收集。与获释孤儿环境相同的色拉野生大象，以及与保护区孤儿同龄的野生大象也将在研究期间进行采样。这些野生大象粪便样本将被用来评估孤儿是否能形成类似于野生个体的微生物群落。这位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。这位研究员将接受实验室技术方面的培训，以识别微生物，并安排在肯尼亚新建的实验室使用和分享这些技能。这位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，与肯尼亚研究人员交流知识并撰写论文。这一奖项反映了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。