NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2022: Disentangling the diversity of synovial joint form and function

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。脊椎动物的关节形状和运动表现出异常的多样性，从使蛇能够吞噬大量猎物的下颚关节到使鸟类和蝙蝠能够飞行的翅膀关节。这项研究旨在了解这些关节形状的差异何时以及如何随着动物的生长而出现，以及关节运动的差异如何使动物成功地占据地球仪的栖息地。该研究员将利用新技术来可视化胚胎中的关节形成，并测量幼年和成年动物的关节运动，以探索这些问题。该项目还将产生用于K-12教室的教育材料。因为鸟类--现存四足动物中最具物种的一组--使用它们的后肢与各种各样的栖息地进行互动，如行走、涉水和栖息，它们为这项工作提供了理想的焦点群体。该研究员将整合技术和观点，从发育生物学，生物力学和计算建模（1）调查鸟类后肢关节形态多样性的孵化前起源，（2）表征鸟类后肢关节形态和功能之间的孵化后连接，（3）开发鸟类后肢功能的预测模型，在运动生态学的背景下。因此，这项工作将直接阐明现代鸟类辐射的功能多样化，但也将实验数据转化为关节形式，功能和环境适应之间的关系的预测模型，将转移到整个脊椎动物树的其他群体。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. Vertebrate animals display an exceptional diversity of joint shapes and motions, ranging from the jaw joints that enable snakes to engulf massive prey to the wing joints that enable birds and bats to take flight. This research aims to understand when and how these differences in joint shape arise as an animal grows, and how differences in joint motion enable animals to successfully occupy habitats across the globe. The fellow will take advantage of new technologies for visualizing joint formation in embryos and for measuring joint motion from juvenile and adult animals to explore these questions. The project will also result in educational materials for use in K-12 classrooms.Because birds – the most speciose group of living tetrapod animals – use their hindlimbs to interact with a wide variety of habitats in behaviors such as walking, wading, and perching, they offer an ideal focal group for this work. The fellow will integrate techniques and perspectives from developmental biology, biomechanics, and computational modeling to (1) investigate the pre-hatching origins of diversity in avian hindlimb joint morphology, (2) characterize the post-hatching connection between avian hindlimb joint morphology and function, and (3) develop a predictive model of avian hindlimb function, within the context of locomotor ecology. This work will thus directly shed light on functional diversification in the modern avian radiation, but will also translate experimental data into a predictive model of the relationships among joint form, function, and environmental adaptation that will be transferable to other groups across the vertebrate tree. While engaging in this research, the fellow will receive training in embryological imaging and motion comparison.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.