NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Mechanisms of phenotypic novelty: biomechanical, sensory, and genetic drivers of ongoing rapid evolution in cricket song

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。动物通过进化行为和形态来吸引配偶。这些特征往往是极端和复杂的，从鹿角和甲虫的象牙到鸟儿的歌声和蜘蛛的舞蹈。然而，目前还不完全清楚这些特征是如何出现和多样化的。这个项目将利用蟋蟀中快速进化的交配吸引信号来了解这些特征的物理、生理和进化。这项研究将对自然界中一些最具魅力的特征如何实时进化提供新颖而紧迫的见解。这位研究员将通过为K-12课堂开发进化游戏，从代表不足的群体指导本科生和高中生，以及为科学家建立数字基础设施，以透明和公平的方式在丹佛大学招聘本科生研究人员，扩大他们的社会影响。这将通过减少获得本科研究职位所需的社会资本来促进STEM的公平性。该研究员将整合计算和实验工具，以阐明夏威夷田野板球--海洋板球--信号进化的机制和机制。田野蟋蟀唱着激烈的纯音歌曲。在夏威夷的种群中，一种致命的寄生苍蝇(Ormiaochracea)窃听会唱歌的雄性蟋蟀，这会带来巨大的健康成本。这种自然选择的成本(寄生)和交配选择的好处的推拉推动了允许秘密通信的新信号的演变。事实上，在过去的几年里，进化出了一种新的发出呼噜声的蟋蟀形态，它吸引了雌性同种苍蝇，但不能吸引寄生苍蝇。这位研究员将1)进行人工选择实验，以量化歌曲结构和女性偏好的遗传结构；2)建立有限元模型，以确定声学生物力学如何产生新的歌曲特征；3)进行生理测试，以测试雌性和寄生虫的感觉能力；以及4)建立基于代理的模型，以测试歌曲如何随着不同选择压力的变化而演变。该研究员将接受来自丹佛大学、圣奥拉夫学院和加拿大西安大略大学的进化生物学、心理声学和生物物理学专家的培训。该研究员还将开发K-12教育工具，指导高中和本科生的研究，并建立持久的基础设施，以促进丹佛大学本科生研究机会的公平和透明。该奖项反映了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. Animals have evolved behaviors and morphologies to attract mates. These traits are often extreme and elaborate, from deer horns and beetle tusks to bird songs and spider dances. Yet, it is not entirely clear how these traits emerge and diversify. This project will leverage a rapidly evolving mate-attraction signal in crickets to understand the physics, physiology, and evolution of these traits. This study will provide novel and pressing insight into how some of nature’s most charismatic traits evolve in real time. The fellow will amplify their societal impact by developing evolution games for K-12 classrooms, mentoring undergraduates and high schoolers from underrepresented groups, and establishing digital infrastructure for scientists to transparently and equitably recruit undergraduate researchers at the University of Denver. This will promote equity in STEM by reducing the social capital required to attain undergraduate research positions.The fellow will integrate computational and experimental tools to elucidate the mechanisms and mechanics of signal evolution in the Hawaiian field cricket, Teleogryllus oceanicus. Field crickets sing intense pure-tone songs. In Hawaiian populations, a lethal parasitoid fly (Ormia ochracea) eavesdrops on singing male crickets, imposing a massive fitness cost. This push-and-pull of naturally selected costs (parasitism) and mating selected benefits have driven the evolution of novel signals that allow covert communication. Indeed, within the last few years, a novel purring cricket morph evolved that attracts female conspecifics but not parasitoid flies. The fellow will 1) perform artificial selection experiments to quantify the genetic architecture of song structure and female preference, 2) build finite element models to determine how acoustic biomechanics generate novel song features, 3) perform physiological assays to test sensory capabilities in females and parasites, and 4) build agent-based models to test how songs evolve as different selection pressures vary. The fellow will receive training from experts in evolutionary biology, psychoacoustics, and biophysics from the University of Denver, St. Olaf College, and the University of Western Ontario (Canada). The fellow will also develop K-12 educational tools, mentor high school and undergraduate research, and establish lasting infrastructure to promote equity and transparency in undergraduate research opportunities at the University of Denver.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.