NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: How short-term plastic responses produce long-term evolutionary change

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。了解生物体适应新环境的机制是进化生物学中的一个关键问题。虽然遗传机制传统上被视为适应的主要机制，但越来越多的证据表明，行为变化也可能是重要的。适应的遗传机制往往更明确(例如，新的突变)；然而，我们仍然缺乏对允许行为变化促进进化过程的机制的强烈理解。最终，该项目将揭示将短期行为变化与长期进化过程联系起来的机制，并对行为何时以及如何驱动适应做出新的预测。除了这些研究目标外，该项目还旨在通过向学习者提供掌握经验的途径，增加进化生物学领域的多样性、公平性和包容性，例如利用博物馆标本进行科学研究，并使用科学方法解决问题。可塑性对进化过程的影响在进化生物学中仍有很高的争论，进化生物学缺乏对将短期可塑性变化与长期进化变化联系起来的机制的强烈理解。行为优先假说预测，产生塑料行为反应的机制应该类似于在进化规模上产生行为多样性的机制。这个项目的目的是通过研究鲤鱼系统中潜在的行为可塑性的分子和神经机制来验证这一预测。该系统包含一种新颖的食鳞鱼专家--一种研究行为灵活性如何导致多样化的极佳有机体--以及几种非专家物种。这项研究将量化专家和非专家鲤鱼大脑中的神经活动、整合和基因表达，最终目标不仅是提供基本的洞察，不仅要了解行为在进化过程中的作用，而且还要了解神经系统如何对新颖性、可塑性机制和适应新的生态环境做出反应。这位研究员在主办机构进行研究时，将受益于神经科学和转录学方面的培训。这项研究还将通过向当前学生(包括正在进行研究的本科生)提供指导，并通过与当地博物馆合作向公众提供科学掌握经验，来帮助招募和留住进化生物学领域的女性和历史上代表性不足的群体。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. Understanding mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt to new environments is a key question in evolutionary biology. While genetic mechanisms have traditionally been viewed as a primary mechanism of adaptation, increasing evidence suggests behavioral changes may also be important. Genetic mechanisms of adaptation tend to be clearer (e.g., new mutations); however, we still lack a strong understanding of mechanisms allowing shifts in behavior to facilitate evolutionary processes. Ultimately, this project will reveal mechanisms connecting short-term behavioral changes to long-term evolutionary processes and produce new predictions about when and how behavior may drive adaptation. In addition to these research goals, the project also aims to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of evolutionary biology by providing learners with access to mastery experiences such as performing scientific research with museum specimens and using the scientific method for problem-solving. Plasticity’s impact on evolutionary processes is still highly debated in evolutionary biology which lacks a strong understanding of mechanisms connecting short-term plastic changes to long-term evolutionary change. The Behavior First Hypothesis predicts that mechanisms responsible for producing plastic behavioral responses should be similar to those producing behavioral diversity on an evolutionary scale. This project aims to test this prediction by investigating molecular and neural mechanisms underlying behavioral plasticity in the pupfish system. The pupfish system contains a novel fish scale-eating specialist—an excellent organism for investigating how behavioral flexibility can lead to diversification—along with several non-specialist species. This research will quantify neural activity, integration, and gene expression in the brains of specialist and non-specialist pupfishes with the end goal of providing fundamental insights not only into behavior’s role in evolutionary processes, but also into how the nervous system responds to novelty, mechanisms of plasticity, and adaptation to new ecological niches. The Fellow will benefit from training in neuroscience and transcriptomics while conducting studies at the host institution. This research will also aid in recruitment and retention of women and historically underrepresented groups in evolutionary biology by providing mentorship to current students, including undergraduates in ongoing research, and by partnering with local museums to provide science mastery experiences to the public.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.