NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Phage life history and evolution as a driver of microbial ecology

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。在地球上几乎所有的环境中，微生物群落中都有多种细菌和病毒共存。不同类型的群落发挥着对人类重要的不同功能，如肠道吸收养分、土壤中的化学循环以及食物和饮料的发酵。这些功能依赖于不同社区成员的稳定共存，每个社区成员都在不断演变并对环境变化做出反应。这项研究将探索噬菌体--一组感染细菌的病毒--如何随着时间的推移影响微生物群落的稳定性。噬菌体可以迅速进化，感染不同类型的细菌，并在它们之间转移重要基因。根据环境的不同，它们可能会直接杀死细菌，也可能会休眠几代人。了解噬菌体在不同环境中的行为和进化将为科学家提供更多工具来控制微生物群落，特别是在面临环境变化的情况下。这项研究还将支持该研究员的教学、指导和推广，以改善代表不足的群体的科学交流和参与。尽管多样性的噬菌体被认为是细菌种群动态的关键驱动因素，但常见的测序方法无法解决复杂微生物群落中的噬菌体生活史策略或宿主范围。因此，噬菌体-细菌相互作用的许多基本原理仍然未知，包括宿主范围进化的速度有多快；环境压力如何影响噬菌体生活史；或者噬菌体在多大程度上推动细菌丰度和群落稳定。这项研究将结合新兴的单细胞测序方法、基于培养的表型分析和环境压力实验来表征噬菌体的行为和进化如何影响微生物群落的稳定性。为了了解生态因素和噬菌体特性之间的相互作用，该研究员将从不同的环境中进行自然群落采样，以及对模拟实验室生物体中的合成群落进行操纵实验。通过这个项目，该研究员将发展复杂微生物系统的实验室和分析技能，与不同的微生物组科学家合作，并出版科学出版物，目的是改善微生物群落的功能控制。该研究员还将获得教学和指导本科生的经验，并致力于提高透明度和对科学的包容性。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. In virtually every environment on earth, many kinds of bacteria and viruses co-exist within microbial communities. Different kinds of communities perform different functions important for humans, such as nutrient absorption in the gut, chemical cycling in the soil, and fermentation of food and drink. These functions depend on the stable coexistence of different community members, each of which is constantly evolving and responding to environmental changes. This research will explore how phage, a group of viruses that infect bacteria, impact the stability of microbial communities over time. Phage can quickly evolve to infect different types of bacteria and transfer important genes between them. Depending on the environment, they may either kill bacteria outright or remain dormant for generations. Understanding the behavior and evolution of phage in diverse settings will give scientists more tools to control microbial communities, especially in the face of environmental change. This research will also support teaching, mentoring, and outreach by the Fellow to improve scientific communication and participation of underrepresented groups. Although diverse bacteriophage are expected to be key drivers of bacterial population dynamics, common sequencing approaches are unable to resolve phage life history strategies or host ranges within complex microbial communities. Consequently, many fundamentals of phage-bacteria interactions remain unknown, including how quickly host range evolves; how phage life history is shaped by environmental stress; or the overall extent to which phage drive bacterial abundance and community stability. This research will combine emerging single-cell sequencing approaches with culture-based phenotype assays and environmental stress experiments to characterize how phage behavior and evolution impact microbial community stability. To understand the interactions between ecological factors and phage proprieties, the Fellow will perform natural community sampling from diverse environments as well as manipulative experiments with synthetic communities in a model laboratory organism. Through this project, the Fellow will develop laboratory and analysis skills in complex microbial systems, collaborate with diverse microbiome scientists, and produce scientific publications with the aim of improving functional control of microbial communities. The Fellow will also gain experience teaching and mentoring undergraduates and work to improve transparency and inclusion in science.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.