NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Functional responses of bird olfactory receptors

2021 财年 NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：鸟类嗅觉受体的功能反应

• 批准号: 2208965
• 负责人: Robert Driver
• 金额: $ 13.8万
• 依托单位: Driver, Robert
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208965&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; FY

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. Birds inhabit nearly all land environments, yet were long thought to make limited use of their sense of smell. Recent behavioral work in birds has shown important roles for smell in behavior and ecology. Vertebrates detect odors using proteins called olfactory receptors (ORs). The fellow has earlier shown that birds have many more ORs than previously realized. There are no studies in birds that match odors to ORs, and it is unknown which odors are important in bird ecology. However, researchers have matched mammalian ORs to specific odors. In many cases, these mammalian ORs are closely related to bird ORs. This research will test these closely related bird ORs with the same odors that the mammalian ORs detect, to understand how conserved OR function is between mammals and birds. This research will also test OR response to odors relevant to bird behavior, including oils from the gland birds use for preening. Additionally, outreach projects will show bird watchers the importance of smell to their local species. The fellow hopes to change the historical perception of bird smell and show that this is an important sense birds use to perceive the world.This project will use a set of mouse ORs known to respond to specific odorants that are orthologous to zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) ORs to test in vivo if odorant responses are preserved through the evolution of these two highly divergent vertebrate lineages. The fellow will then screen a larger panel of odorants against the zebra finch ORs in vitro. This would be the first test aimed to reveal a functional response for a bird OR. Using odorants that are behaviorally relevant to the zebra finch, the fellow will investigate OR responses in vivo. The fellow will conduct an outreach activity at nature centers using feeders with hidden food and provide forms for the public to record observations and learn about bird olfaction. The fellow will continue to promote inclusivity in bird watching, and push for the removal of offensive bird names.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.

该行动资助 2022 财年 NSF 生物学博士后研究奖学金，旨在调查基因组、环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持研究员的研究和培训，以创新的方式为生活规则领域做出贡献。鸟类几乎栖息在所有陆地环境中，但长期以来人们认为它们对嗅觉的利用有限。最近的鸟类行为研究表明嗅觉在行为和生态学中发挥着重要作用。脊椎动物使用称为嗅觉受体（OR）的蛋白质来检测气味。 该研究员早些时候已经表明，鸟类的 OR 比之前意识到的要多得多。目前还没有针对鸟类进行将气味与 OR 相匹配的研究，并且尚不清楚哪种气味在鸟类生态学中很重要。然而，研究人员已经将哺乳动物的 OR 与特定的气味进行了匹配。在许多情况下，这些哺乳动物的 OR 与鸟类的 OR 密切相关。这项研究将测试这些密切相关的鸟类 OR，其气味与哺乳动物 OR 检测到的气味相同，以了解哺乳动物和鸟类之间 OR 功能的保守性。这项研究还将测试 OR 对与鸟类行为相关的气味的反应，包括鸟类用于整理毛发的腺体油。此外，外展项目将向鸟类观察者展示气味对其当地物种的重要性。该研究员希望改变对鸟类气味的历史认知，并表明这是鸟类用来感知世界的重要感觉。该项目将使用一组已知对与斑胸草雀（Taeniopygia guttata）同源的特定气味做出反应的小鼠 OR，来体内测试气味反应是否通过这两个高度分化的脊椎动物谱系的进化得以保留。然后，该研究员将在体外针对斑胸草雀 OR 筛选更大的一组气味剂。这将是第一个旨在揭示鸟类 OR 功能反应的测试。研究人员将使用与斑胸草雀行为相关的气味来研究体内的 OR 反应。该研究员将使用带有隐藏食物的喂食器在自然中心开展外展活动，并为公众提供表格来记录观察结果并了解鸟类的嗅觉。该研究员将继续促进观鸟的包容性，并推动删除令人反感的鸟类名称。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。