Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology: Effects of Rapid Evolution on Alternative Community States at Multiple Spatial Scales

研究员姓名：Lucas nell提案号：2209354研究标题：生物学博士后研究奖学金：在多个空间尺度上快速进化对替代社区状态的影响赞助科学家和主办机构：Tadashi Fukami，斯坦福大学此行动资助NSF博士后研究奖学金生物学为2022年度，综合研究调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。该项目将研究快速进化如何通过空间影响不同生态群落状态的模式。可选择的群落状态是特定生态群落可能出现的不同结果，它们是群落形成过程中发生的偶然事件的结果。通过使用实验室实验和数学模型，这项研究将有助于理解进化如何影响历史偶然性，这使得预测社区结果变得非常困难。此外，它对理解其他微生物群落（如人类肠道中的微生物群落）也有明确的意义。该研究员还将通过(1)指导一个本科生研究团队和(2)为有前科的研究学者提供带薪实习项目，帮助扩大代表性不足的群体的参与。本研究将研究快速进化如何在单社区和元社区（一个相互联系的社区网络）尺度上改变可选的社区状态。猴花蜜中的微生物是一个理想的研究系统，因为它们可以很容易地在实验室中复制群落组装过程，因为组成物种可以迅速进化生态性状。本研究将解决两个主要问题：(1)性状的快速进化如何影响不同群落状态的组成及其在元群落中的流行程度？在实验室微观实验中，对影响不同群落状态的性状的初始立地变异进行调控，比较低变异（即弱进化）和高变异处理下群落状态的空间格局。(2)在什么条件下，快速进化和移民改变了不同的元群落状态对物种共存的影响？将建立一个数学模型来模拟黏猴花蜜中微生物群落的生态和进化动态。模拟将用于评估物种之间如何在抑制共存的其他状态下维持元群落水平的共存。为了解决这两个问题，他将开发新的技能，从头开始建立系统特定模型，将实验数据拟合到机械模型中，并在实验室中与微生物一起工作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Fellow's name: Lucas NellProposal number: 2209354Research title: Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology: Effects of Rapid Evolution on Alternative Community States at Multiple Spatial ScalesSponsoring scientist(s) and host institution(s): Tadashi Fukami, Stanford UniversityThis 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. This project will study how rapid evolution affects patterns of alternative ecological community states through space. Alternative community states are the different outcomes that are possible for a particular ecological community, and they arise as a result of chance events that occur while communities are forming. By using both laboratory experiments and mathematical models, this research will help understand how evolution affects the historical contingency that makes predicting community outcomes notoriously difficult. Additionally, it has clear implications for understanding other microbial communities such as those in the human gut. The fellow will also help broaden the participation of underrepresented groups through (1) mentorship of an undergraduate research team and (2) a paid internship program for formerly incarcerated research scholars.This research will study how rapid evolution alters alternative community states at both single-community and metacommunity (a network of interconnected communities) scales. Microbes in sticky monkey-flower nectar are an ideal study system because they can be easily used to replicate the process of community assembly in the laboratory and because the constituent species can rapidly evolve ecological traits. The research will address two main questions: (1) How does rapid trait evolution affect the compositions of alternative community states and their prevalence across a metacommunity? In laboratory microcosm experiments, the initial standing variation for traits affecting alternative community states will be manipulated, and the patterns of community states through space will be compared for low-variation (i.e., weaker evolution) and high-variation treatments. (2) Under what conditions do rapid evolution and immigration alter how alternative metacommunity states affect species coexistence? A mathematical model will be developed to simulate the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of microbe communities in sticky monkey-flower nectar. Simulations will be used to assess how metacommunity-level coexistence among species can be maintained despite alternative states that should inhibit coexistence. In addressing both questions, the fellow will develop new skills in building a system-specific model from the ground up, fitting experimental data to a mechanistic model, and working with microbes in the laboratory.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.