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

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。脊椎动物表现出异常多样的关节形状和运动，从使蛇能够吞噬大量猎物的下巴关节到使鸟类和蝙蝠能够飞行的翅膀关节。这项研究旨在了解随着动物的成长，关节形状的这些差异是何时以及如何产生的，以及关节运动的差异如何使动物能够成功地在全球范围内占据栖息地。这位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课堂的教材。由于鸟类--现存的四足动物中最特殊的一组--在行走、涉水和栖息等行为中使用它们的后肢与各种各样的栖息地互动，它们为这项工作提供了一个理想的焦点群体。该研究员将结合发育生物学、生物力学和计算建模的技术和观点，(1)研究鸟类后肢关节形态多样性在孵化前的起源，(2)表征孵化后鸟类后肢关节形态与功能之间的联系，(3)在运动生态学的背景下，建立鸟类后肢功能的预测模型。因此，这项工作将直接阐明现代鸟类辐射中的功能多样化，但也将把实验数据转化为关节形式、功能和环境适应之间关系的预测模型，该模型将可移植到脊椎动物树上的其他群体。在从事这项研究时，该研究员将接受胚胎成像和运动比较方面的培训。这一奖项反映了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. 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.