NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Predicting Host-Parasite Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics Across a Climate Gradient

该行动资助了2022财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该研究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。这项研究将探讨气候变化如何影响寄生虫与宿主之间的相互作用。温暖的环境可能有利于宿主或寄生虫，每个伴侣的适应能力可能不同。该研究员将使用树洞蚊子Aedes sierrensis及其寄生虫Lamberella clarki的幼虫进行一系列研究和实验，以确定温度如何影响宿主和寄生虫之间的相互作用，以及每个物种对当地环境的适应如何塑造这种相互作用。此外，该研究员将在暑期指导来自生物学代表性不足群体的本科生，并将领导研讨会，向学生介绍计算机编程。该研究员将把从广泛的气候梯度中收集的宿主和寄生虫种群的基因组测序与当地适应实验相结合，直接测试具有较高遗传多样性和迁移率的物种将在共同进化的军备竞赛中领先并显示出当地适应的迹象的理论。此外，该研究员将构建一个修改后的易感-感染-感染模型，该模型将使用关于当地适应性和热性能的实验数据进行参数化，并使用范围广泛的调查的观测数据进行验证。该模型将提供一个理论框架，用于将热响应和共同进化响应整合到气候变化下的疾病流行预测中，这与其他类型的疾病有关，例如蚊子传播的疾病和兼性寄生虫引起的疾病。研究结果将通过在碧玉岭生物保护区举行的外联活动与病媒控制机构和公众分享。总的来说，这项工作的结果将导致对指导宿主-寄生虫系统对气候变化的反应的生态和进化原则的更普遍的理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力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 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. This research will address how climate change will affect interactions between parasites and their hosts. A warming environment may favor the host or the parasite, and each partner may differ in their ability to adapt. The fellow will conduct a set of studies and experiments using larvae of the tree hole mosquito Aedes sierrensis and its parasite Lambornella clarki to determine how temperature affects the interaction between hosts and parasites, and how the adaptation of each species to its local environment shapes this interaction. Additionally, the fellow will mentor undergraduates from underrepresented groups in biology during summers and will lead workshops to introduce students to computer programming. The fellow will combine genomic sequencing of populations of hosts and parasites collected from a range-wide climate gradient with a local adaptation experiment to directly test the theory that the species with higher genetic diversity and migration rates will be ahead in the coevolutionary arms race and show signs of local adaptation. Further, the fellow will construct a modified Susceptible-Infected-Recovered model, parameterized with experimental data on local adaptation and thermal performance and validated with observational data from the range-wide survey. The model will provide a theoretical framework for integrating thermal and coevolutionary responses into predictions of disease prevalence under climate change, which has relevance to other types of diseases, e.g. mosquito-vectored diseases and diseases caused by facultative parasites. The research findings will be shared with vector control agencies and with the public through outreach events at the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve. Overall, results from this work will lead to a more general understanding of the ecological and evolutionary principles that guide the response of host–parasite systems to climate change. The fellow will receive training in genomic analysis, experimental design, and model construction and parameterization.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.