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

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。栖息在动物体内的数万亿微生物，统称为微生物组，对动物生态和健康至关重要。这项研究探讨了来自环境（土壤，水或饮食）的微生物是否有助于濒危食肉动物中动物相关微生物组的形成：黑脚雪貂。在重新引入自然栖息地的雪貂中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，繁殖和野外的整体生存。除了为微生物在动物与环境相互作用中的作用提供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尼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;这将使人们认识到微生物组在动物生态和保护中的重要性。外展将包括K-12学生在华盛顿DC大都会区谁是在STEM学科代表性不足。这项研究测试的假设，即微生物从外部来源成为“纪念品微生物”被纳入并坚持在宿主相关的微生物组，这些微生物最终影响宿主表型。使用扩增子和鸟枪宏基因组测序（使用微生物来源跟踪软件）研究员将（1）表征土壤，水和猎物肠道和皮肤联合体中的外部微生物组;（2）量化这些群落对雪貂肠道微生物组的组成和功能的贡献（从而识别纪念微生物）;（3）采用实验方法（包括粪便微生物群移植）以测试纪念性微生物是否在雪貂微生物群中持续存在并影响表型（例如，免疫标记、消化功能和病原体负荷）。这项研究的重点是三个黑脚雪貂种群（圈养，半野生和野生），以评估纪念品微生物如何受到种群之间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共同指导，提供跨学科的培训方法，将扩大研究员的知识，提供整合微生物生态学和动物生理学的新技能，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识产权进行评估，被认为值得支持。优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.