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

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。动物进化出了吸引配偶的行为和形态。这些特征往往是极端和精心制作的，从鹿角和甲虫的象牙到鸟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。该项目将利用蟋蟀中快速进化的配偶吸引信号来了解这些特征的物理学，生理学和进化。这项研究将为自然界中一些最具魅力的特征在真实的时间里是如何进化的提供新颖而紧迫的见解。该研究员将通过为K-12教室开发进化游戏，指导来自代表性不足群体的本科生和高中生，并为科学家建立数字基础设施，以透明和公平地招募丹佛大学的本科研究人员，来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，以阐明夏威夷田野蟋蟀Teleogryllus oceanicus信号进化的机制和机制。田野里的蟋蟀唱着强烈的纯音歌曲。在夏威夷种群中，一种致命的寄生蝇（Ormia ochracea）偷听雄性蟋蟀的歌声，造成了巨大的健康成本。这种自然选择的成本（寄生）和交配选择的利益的推拉推动了允许隐蔽通信的新信号的进化。事实上，在过去的几年里，一种新的呜呜声蟋蟀变种进化出来，吸引雌性同种，但不吸引寄生蝇。该研究员将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）进行生理分析，以测试女性和寄生虫的感官能力，以及4）建立基于代理的模型，以测试歌曲如何随着不同的选择压力而演变。该研究员将接受丹佛大学、圣奥拉夫学院和西安大略大学（加拿大）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度。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. 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.