NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Ecological drivers of chemosensory gene family evolution

该行动资助2021财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训计划，该计划将增加在生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。生物学的一个主要困难是理解生物体中的复杂性状是如何多样化的，因为复杂性状可以有许多功能，并由多个基因控制。植物和昆虫是地球上最多样化的两个群体，对多种生态系统都很重要。昆虫探测花香的能力影响着许多植物与昆虫的相互作用。本项目将研究昆虫嗅觉（嗅觉）的遗传进化。这项研究将把基因水平的数据与巴拿马昆虫群落和植物-昆虫关联的知识结合起来。整合这些生物尺度可以帮助我们理解环境和生态变化如何以及为什么产生和维持复杂性状的变化。该研究员将开发一个科学传播研讨会，以促进大学生和科学家之间的协作指导环境。昆虫触角上的化学感觉基因家族参与对花香的嗅觉识别。该项目将揭示在无花果属（Ficus）和无花果黄蜂（Chalcidoidea超科）高度共同进化的共生关系中，对花香检测的基因组进化做出贡献的生态因素。通过解决三个问题：(1)在基因组水平上，授粉和不授粉的无花果黄蜂对同一无花果宿主的吸引力是否导致趋同的进化模式？(2)更大的寄主呼吸和对更大多样性花香的吸引是否与更大的化学感觉基因家族变异有关？(3)更大的有效种群规模是否也与更大的化学感觉基因家族变异相关？为了回答上述问题，研究员将使用下一代测序来构建de novo基因组参考。此外，该研究员将结合比较基因组学与无花果黄蜂群落组成，估计有效种群规模和植物-寄主关系。该项目将为研究员提供获得基因组学、从头基因组组装和湿实验室技术等新技能的机会。该项目更广泛的影响包括发展拨款写作和科学传播研讨会，其目标是(1)传播拨款写作的技巧和信息，(2)营造一个指导环境，让参与者可以分享他们的研究，(3)帮助参与者建立专业联系和指导关系。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, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The Fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. A principal difficulty in biology is understanding how complex traits in an organism diversify, since complex traits can serve numerous functions and are controlled by multiple genes. Plants and insects are the two most diverse groups on earth and are important to multiple ecosystems. The ability to detect floral scents by insects affects many plant-insect interactions. This project will investigate the genetic evolution of insect smell (olfaction). This research will combine gene-level data with the knowledge of a Panamanian insect communities and plant-insect associations. Integrating these biological scales can help our understanding of how and why environmental and ecological variation generates and maintains variation in complex traits. The Fellow will develop a science communication workshop to foster a collaborative mentoring environment between college students and scientists.Insect chemosensory gene families on the antennae participate in the olfactory recognition of floral scents. This project will unravel ecological factors contributing to the genomic evolution of floral scent detection in the highly co-evolved symbiosis between figs (genus Ficus) and fig wasps (superfamily Chalcidoidea). By addressing three questions: (1) Does pollinating and non-pollinating fig wasp attraction to the same fig host result in convergent evolutionary patterns at the genomic level? (2) Is greater host breath and attraction to a larger diversity of floral scents associated with greater chemosensory gene family variation? (3) Is a larger effective population size also associated with greater chemosensory gene family variation? To answer the aforementioned questions, the Fellow will use next-generation sequencing to construct de novo genomic references. Furthermore, the fellow will incorporate comparative genomics with fig wasp community composition, estimates of effective population size, and plant-host association. This project will provide opportunities for the Fellow to gain new skills in genomics, de novo genome assembly, and wet lab techniques. The broader impacts of this project include the development of a grant writing and science communication workshops with the goals to (1) disseminate tips and information on grant writing, (2) foster a mentoring environment in which participants can share their research, and (3) help establish professional connections and mentoring relationships among participants.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.