NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Integrating Phenotypic and Genomic Data across Multiple Hybrid Zones to Understand the Evolution of Reproductive Isolation in Snakes

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式为《生活规则》领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。进化生物学领域已经成为促进我们对产生和维持地球上生命多样性的机制的理解的工具。本研究将以响尾蛇为研究对象，通过研究在这一过程早期促进谱系分化的机制来了解物种形成的过程。该项目的重点是了解杂交物种如何保持部分生殖隔离，以及各种进化过程在形成生殖隔离中的作用。了解这些机制对于扩展物种如何在自然界中产生的现有知识以及不同进化过程的角色如何随着物种形成过程的进行而变化是很重要的。此外，该研究员将参与培训来自代表性不足群体的本科生，学习与本研究相关的方法和理论。基因组和相关数据集将公布并免费提供给其他人，以加强对不同受众的公共宣传，并推进科学界未来的调查。该项目将使用来自西部响尾蛇物种复合体的全基因组和RNA测序，通过比较多个杂交区，从而了解导致生殖隔离的各种进化机制的作用，从而研究可能支配物种形成过程的广泛的“生命规则”。该研究员将测试基因组不相容和其他过程在驱动生殖隔离中的作用的假设，并测试发现的模式是否在多个不同的杂交区域中是可预测的。该研究员还将通过整合基因组、基因表达、表型和环境数据，验证类似的屏障性状及其潜在的基因组位点在不同杂交区域影响杂交适应性的假设。这些综合分析将用于理解性状及其基础基因座之间的关系，以及性状及其基础基因座在杂交适应性和生殖隔离中所起的作用。该项目将包括对研究员进行生物信息学和物种形成理论方面的具体培训，并组织公众宣传活动和研究专题讨论会；这些活动包括来自STEM学科中代表性不足的群体的学生的参与。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识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. The field of evolutionary biology has become instrumental in advancing our understanding of the mechanisms that generate and maintain the diversity of life on the planet. This research will use rattlesnakes as a study system to understand the process of speciation by studying the mechanisms that promote lineage divergence early in this process. The project focuses on understanding how hybridizing species maintain partial reproductive isolation, and the roles of various evolutionary processes in shaping reproductive isolation. Understanding these mechanisms is important for expanding current knowledge of how species arise in nature, and how the roles of distinct evolutionary processes may shift as the speciation process proceeds. Additionally, the Fellow will be involved in training undergraduates from underrepresented groups in methods and theory related to this research. Genomes and related datasets will be published and made freely available to others in order to enhance public outreach to diverse audiences as well as advancing future investigations by the scientific community.This project will use whole genome and RNA sequencing from species of the Western Rattlesnake species complex to understand the roles of various evolutionary mechanisms that contribute to reproductive isolation by comparing multiple hybrid zones and thereby investigating broad “rules of life” that may govern the process of speciation. The Fellow will test hypotheses for the roles of genomic incompatibilities and other processes in driving reproductive isolation, and test if discovered patterns are predictable across multiple, distinct hybrid zones. The Fellow will also test the hypothesis that similar barrier traits and their underlying genomic loci impact hybrid fitness in distinct hybrid zones by integrating genomic, gene expression, phenotypic, and environmental data. These integrated analyses will be used to understand the relationships between traits and the loci that underlie them, and the roles that traits and underlying loci play in hybrid fitness and reproductive isolation. This project will involve specific training of the Fellow in bioinformatics and speciation theory, and the organization of public outreach events and research symposia; these activities include involvement of students from groups underrepresented in STEM disciplines.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.