NSF PRFB FY22: Disentangling early stages of diversification: The roles of biotic and abiotic environment and evolutionary history on floral phenotypes in species complexes

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对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。要了解地球上的生命是如何进化的，就需要了解产生这种生命多样性的过程。产生新物种的过程（称为物种形成）是一个连续的、持续的过程，关于其早期阶段的问题仍然存在。通过研究所谓的物种复合体，可以很好地理解物种形成的早期阶段。物种复合体是一组密切相关的物种，它们经常表现出不同但重叠的特征变异，并可能继续杂交。研究物种复合体可以使这项研究放大到物种形成的早期阶段，以检查生物体的局部环境如何塑造其物理特征（表型）和基因组成（基因型）的进化。通过这样做，这项研究将有助于我们了解地球上生命的多样性是如何产生的，以及它是如何继续进化的。这项工作将有助于为支持和保护生物多样性的努力提供信息，并将通过外联和教育鼓励下一代科学家。本研究将通过研究最近辐射的Castilleja属（画笔属）的花性状变异来表征开花植物之间的早期分化，重点研究C. sessiliflora和C. pilosa物种复合体。该研究将探索在不同环境下的表型和基因组分化模式，从而在年轻谱系中建立物种划分的预测模型。该项目将采用ddrad测序来确定这些群体的进化单位和时空差异模式。接下来，该研究员将通过使用结构方程模型来比较不同的生物和非生物环境因素对花卉变异的影响，从而探索潜在驱动这些模式的过程。然后，她将识别与花卉变异相关的基因组变异区域，评估它们的选择和分化特征，这将阐明在物种形成的早期阶段重要的基因组特定区域。总体而言，该项目将连接基因组和表型变异，以了解与环境的相互作用如何驱动早期物种形成。此外，该研究员将通过夏季研究项目和STEM教材的制作，为外展和指导做出贡献，这些教材将以英语和西班牙语提供，并将与马里兰州4H和加州科学院合作，在全国范围内分发，从而帮助扩大STEM的参与和包容。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. Understanding how life on earth evolves requires understanding the processes that give rise to this diversity of life. The process generating new species (called speciation) is a continuous, ongoing process, and questions remain about its early stages. Early stages of speciation can be well understood by studying what are called species complexes, which are groups of species that are closely related, and often exhibit distinct but overlapping variation in traits and likely continue to interbreed. Studying species complexes allows this research to zoom in on early stages of speciation to examine how an organism’s local environment shapes the evolution of both its physical traits (phenotype) and its genetic makeup (genotype). By doing so, this research will contribute to our understanding of how the diversity of life on earth has arisen and how it continues to evolve. This work will help inform efforts to support and protect biodiversity and will encourage the next generation of scientists through outreach and education.This research will characterize incipient divergence among flowering plants by examining floral trait variation in the recently radiating genus Castilleja (the paintbrushes), focusing on the C. sessiliflora and C. pilosa species complexes. The research will explore patterns of phenotypic and genomic divergence in contrasting environments, resulting in a predictive model of species delimitation in young lineages. This project will employ ddRad-sequencing to identify evolutionary units and spatio-temporal patterns of divergence in these groups. Next, the fellow will explore processes potentially driving these patterns by using structural equation modeling to compare how different biotic and abiotic environmental factors contribute to floral variation. She will then identify regions of genomic variation associated with floral variation, assessing them for signatures of selection and divergence, which will shed light on specific regions of the genome important in early stages of speciation. Overall, this project will connect genomic and phenotypic variation to understand how interactions with the environment drive incipient speciation. Additionally, the fellow will contribute to outreach and mentoring, through summer research programs and the generation of STEM teaching materials, which will be available in English and Spanish and will be distributed from coast to coast in partnership with Maryland 4H and California Academy of Sciences, thus helping to broaden participation and inclusion in STEM.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.