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

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。这项研究将探讨气候变化将如何影响寄生虫与其宿主之间的相互作用。变暖的环境可能有利于寄主或寄生虫，每个伴侣的适应能力可能不同。这位研究员将利用树洞蚊子伊蚊及其寄生虫Lambornella 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，这位研究员将在暑假期间指导生物专业中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。这位研究员将把从大范围气候梯度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，直接测试遗传多样性和迁移率较高的物种将在共同进化的军备竞赛中领先并显示出局部适应迹象的理论。此外，研究员将构建一个修正的易感感染-恢复模型，用关于局部适应和热性能的实验数据进行参数化，并用来自全范围调查的观测数据进行验证。该模型将提供一个理论框架，将温度和共同进化反应纳入气候变化下的疾病流行预测，这与其他类型的疾病有关，例如蚊媒传播的疾病和兼性寄生虫引起的疾病。研究结果将与病媒控制机构分享，并通过在贾斯珀岭生物保护区的外联活动与公众分享。总体而言，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反应的生态和进化原则有更全面的理解。这位研究员将接受基因组分析、实验设计、模型构建和参数化方面的培训。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. 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.