NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Genomic-Phenomic Convergence of Andean and Himalayan Elevational Migrant Birds

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________研究基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规律的综合研究。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。海拔生态位迁移是一种不常见的行为，涉及季节性海拔2,000米或更多的迁移。这种行为已经在至少30个鸟类家族中进化，表明了极端的季节性生理灵活性，某些种群可以适应在温度、压力、空气密度、紫外线照射和相互作用的物种群落方面截然不同的环境。这位研究员将研究鸟类基因组的平行进化，以及表型的灵活性，可能如何塑造跨越安第斯山脉和喜马拉雅山脉的海拔生态位迁移的重复进化。该研究员将从生态学、进化论和生理学的角度，以及在不同的空间和系统发育比较尺度上考虑海拔生态位迁移的原因和后果。该项目将产生有价值的博物馆标本，包括冰冻组织，以及关于基因组、生理学和迁徙的详细数据。这项研究将提供对动物如何应对和适应个体一生中经历的深刻环境变化的理解。当基因组或转录组序列与不同的特征和性能数据相结合时，使用系统发育学的比较生物学变得非常强大。这种方法可以揭示支撑生物多样性的生理、行为和许多方面的机制。这位研究员将从鸟类系统发育的各个物种中抽取样本，并使用全基因组数据来测试分别在安第斯山脉和喜马拉雅山脉经历海拔生态位迁移的鸟类种群中分子进化的可预测模式。作为第二个对比测试，研究员将评估永久居住在高海拔地区的物种与季节性迁徙到高海拔地区的物种经历平行或反平行进化的程度。在野外，这位研究员将操纵氧气的分压来量化低海拔居民、高海拔居民和海拔迁徙物种之间的转录可塑性，并将评估海拔变化是否预测可塑性程度。为了扩大这项研究的影响，该研究员将：1)指导和培训来自代表性不足群体的本科生；2)向秘鲁的学生和研究人员教授标本准备研讨会；3)为康奈尔大学脊椎动物博物馆和生物多样性中心的自然历史藏品增长、基础设施和程序升级以及外联工作做出贡献；以及4)出版流行文章，改善复杂进化现象的可及性。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 2022, 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. Elevational niche-shift migration is an uncommon behavior involving seasonal elevational shifts of 2,000 meters or more. This behavior, which has evolved in at least 30 families of birds, illustrates extreme seasonal physiological flexibility, whereby certain populations can acclimatize to environments that differ starkly in temperature, pressure, air density, UV exposure, and communities of interacting species. The fellow will investigate how parallel evolution of bird genomes, in conjunction with phenotypic flexibility, may have shaped repeated evolution of elevational niche-shift migration across the Andes and Himalayas. The fellow will consider the causes and consequences of elevational niche-shift migration from the perspectives of ecology, evolution, and physiology, and at various spatial and phylogenetic scales of comparison. The project will generate valuable museum specimens that include frozen tissues, as well as detailed data on genomes, physiology, and migration. This research will provide understanding of how animals can cope with and adjust to profound environmental change that is experienced during the lifetime of individuals.Comparative biology using phylogenies becomes enormously powerful when genome or transcriptome sequences are combined with diverse trait and performance data. This approach can reveal mechanisms that underpin physiology, behavior, and many aspects of biodiversity. The fellow will sample species from across the avian phylogeny and use whole-genome data to test for predictable patterns of molecular evolution in bird populations that undergo elevational niche-shift migration in the Andes and Himalayas, respectively. As a second comparative test, the fellow will assess the degree to which permanent high-altitude resident species undergo parallel or anti-parallel evolution with species that migrate to high altitudes seasonally. In the field, the fellow will manipulate partial pressure of oxygen to quantify transcriptomic plasticity among low-altitude residents, high-altitude residents, and elevational migrant species, and will evaluate whether elevational shifts predict degree of plasticity. To broaden the impact of the research, the fellow will: 1) mentor and train undergraduate students from underrepresented groups; 2) teach specimen preparation workshops to students and researchers in Peru; 3) contribute to natural history collections growth, infrastructural and procedural upgrades, and outreach efforts at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates and Centro de Ornitología y Biodiversidad; and 4) publish popular articles that improve the accessibility of complex evolutionary phenomena.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.