NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY22: Investigating evolutionary mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence and facilitate local adaptation in gray wolves

这一行动为NSF 2022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。为了应对当今的气候变化，预计许多物种将改变它们的分布并适应新的环境。这一预测在一定程度上是基于过去的知识。过去的气候变化导致物种在其活动范围内经历了戏剧性的变化，这有时会导致曾经孤立的种群聚集在一起，相互接触。过去气候和物种范围的变化也要求一些种群迅速适应新的环境。这提出了两个重要问题：密切相关的物种或种群如何保持遗传上的截然不同的联系？促进快速适应新环境的基因变异的来源是什么？这个项目将使用尖端基因组技术，以灰狼(犬狼疮)为研究系统来研究这两个问题。这项工作的影响将进一步加深对当今气候变化对物种影响的科学理解，同时也为巴基斯坦和其他国家的早期职业研究人员提供培训机会。这项研究将利用基因组工具、计算方法，并与广泛的研究人员合作，研究维持基因组差异和促进灰狼局部适应的机制。为了解决这些问题，这位研究员将使用大约1000个灰狼基因组，这些基因组已经测序或将在项目期间收集和测序。该研究员将把这些数据与公开的环境数据结合起来，以解决这三个目标：(1)确定有助于解释世界各地灰狼的系统发育和种群基因组结构模式的关键历史、环境和生态因素；(2)评估维持基因组差异的机制的证据；以及(3)区分有助于适应新环境的遗传源(例如，适应性导入、站立变异)。这项工作将对灰狼的保护具有重要的保护意义，特别是对于数据不足和濒危的狼种群。这位研究员在博士期间将继续努力指导巴基斯坦的早期职业研究人员，并为巴基斯坦和其他国家的大学开发和举办关于数据分析和系统发生方法的研讨会。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。

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. In response to present-day climate change, many species are predicted to shift their distribution and adapt to new environments. This prediction is partly based on knowledge from the past. Climatic changes of the past caused species to undergo dramatic shifts in their range, which sometimes caused once isolated populations to come together in contact with each other. Past shifts in climate and species ranges also required some populations to quickly adapt to new environments. This raises two important questions: how do closely related species or populations remain genetically distinct contact? And what are the sources of genetic variation that facilitate rapid adaptation to new environments? This project will use cutting-edge genomic techniques to investigate these two questions using the gray wolf (Canis lupus) as a study system. The impact of this work will further scientific understanding on the implications of present-day climate change on species, while also providing opportunities in training for early career researchers in Pakistan and other countries. This research will utilize genomic tools, computational methods, and collaborate with a wide range of researchers to investigate mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence and facilitate local adaptation in gray wolves. To address these questions, the Fellow will use ~1,000 gray wolf genomes that are already sequenced or to be collected and sequenced during the project. The Fellow will combine these data with publicly available environmental data to address these three aims (1) identify key historical, environmental, and ecological factors that help explain patterns of phylogenetic and populations genomic structure for worldwide gray wolves, (2) evaluate evidence for mechanisms that maintain genomic divergence, and (3) distinguish genetic sources (e.g. adaptive introgression, standing variation) that facilitate adaptation to new environments. This work will have significant conservation implications for gray wolf conservation, especially for wolf populations that are data deficient and endangered. The Fellow will continue her efforts during her PhD to mentor early career researchers in Pakistan, as well as develop and conduct workshops on data analysis and phylogenetic methods to universities in Pakistan and other countries.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.