NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Microbial Interactions across Trophic Scales and their Contributions to Host Phenotype in a Carnivore Model

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。生活在动物体内的数以万亿计的微生物，统称为微生物群，对动物生态和健康至关重要。这项研究探索了来自环境(土壤、水或饮食项目)的微生物是否有助于濒危食肉动物--黑脚雪貂--动物相关微生物群的形成。在重新引入自然栖息地的雪貂身上研究这些动态，也将测试微生物关系是否会影响雪貂的健康、繁殖和在野外的总体生存。除了提供有关微生物在动物-环境相互作用中的作用的有价值的生态学数据外，这项研究还将在为其他濒危动物的保护策略提供信息方面具有应用价值。该研究员将与史密森国家动物园和保护生物学研究所(NZP-SCBI)合作进行这项研究，并将结果传播给公众和保护团体；这将使广大和不同的受众认识到微生物在动物生态和保护中的重要性。外展将包括华盛顿特区大都市区的K-12学生，他们在STEM学科中的代表性不足。这项研究测试了这样一种假设，即来自外部来源的微生物通过被并入并持续存在于宿主相关微生物群中而成为“纪念品微生物”，以及这些微生物最终影响宿主表型。使用扩增和鸟枪元基因组测序(使用微生物来源追踪软件)，研究员将(1)表征土壤、水和猎物肠道和皮肤中的外部微生物群；(2)量化这些群落对雪貂肠道微生物群的组成和功能的贡献(从而识别纪念品微生物)；以及(3)使用实验方法(包括粪便微生物区系移植)测试纪念品微生物是否在雪貂微生物群中持续存在并影响表型(如免疫标记物、消化功能和病原体负载)。这项研究集中在三个黑脚雪貂种群(圈养、半野生和野生)，以评估纪念品微生物如何在种群之间和随着时间的推移受到不同环境条件的影响。该研究员将在NZP-SCBI的保护基因组学中心和营养科学系联合指导，提供跨学科的培训方法，扩大研究员的知识，提供整合微生物生态学和动物生理学的新技能，并促进科学交流和外展。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. The trillions of microbes that inhabit animals’ bodies, collectively known as microbiomes, are vital to animal ecology and health. This research explores whether microbes from the environment (soil, water, or dietary items) can contribute to the formation of animal-associated microbiomes in an endangered carnivore: the black-footed ferret. Studying these dynamics in ferrets undergoing reintroduction to natural habitats will also test whether microbial relationships impact the ferret’s health, reproduction, and overall survival in the wild. In addition to providing valuable ecological data on the role of microbes in animal-environment interactions, this research will have applied value in informing conservation strategies for other endangered animals. The Fellow will be working with the Smithsonian National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute (NZP-SCBI) to conduct this research as well as to disseminate the results to the public and conservation groups; this will bring awareness of the importance of microbiomes in animal ecology and conservation to a broad and diverse audience. Outreach will include K-12 students in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area who are underrepresented in STEM disciplines.This research tests the hypothesis that microbes from external sources become ‘souvenir microbes’ by being incorporated into and persisting within host-associated microbiomes and that these microbes ultimately affect host phenotype. Using amplicon and shotgun metagenomic sequencing (with microbial source tracking software) the Fellow will (1) characterize external microbiomes in soil, water, and prey gut and skin consortia; (2) quantify the contributions of these communities to the composition and function of ferret gut microbiomes (thereby identifying souvenir microbes); and (3) use experimental approaches (including fecal microbiota transplants) to test whether souvenir microbes persist in ferret microbiomes and influence phenotypes (e.g., immune markers, digestive function, and pathogen load). The research focuses on three black-footed ferret populations (captive, semi-wild, and wild) to assess how souvenir microbes are influenced by different environmental conditions among populations and over time. The Fellow will be jointly mentored at NZP-SCBI’s Center for Conservation Genomics and Department of Nutrition Science, providing an interdisciplinary training approach that will expand the Fellow’s knowledge, provide novel skills that integrate microbial ecology and animal physiology, and promote science communication and outreach.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.