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

研究员姓名：Lucas NellProposal编号：2209354研究标题：生物学博士后研究奖学金：快速进化对多空间尺度下另类社区国家的影响海绵科学家(S)和主办机构(S)：斯坦福大学深上忠志这一行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2022财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，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。这个项目将研究快速进化如何通过空间影响替代生态群落状态的模式。可供选择的社区状态是特定生态社区可能出现的不同结果，它们是在社区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是如何影响历史偶然性的，而历史偶然性使预测社区结果变得非常困难。此外，它对了解其他微生物群落，如人类肠道中的微生物群落也有明显的影响。这位研究员还将通过(1)本科生研究团队的指导和(2)针对以前被监禁的研究奖学金的带薪实习计划，帮助扩大代表不足群体的参与。这项研究将研究快速进化如何在单一社区和元社区(相互联系的社区网络)的尺度上改变替代社区状态。粘性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的过程，而且组成物种可以快速进化生态特征。这项研究将解决两个主要问题：(1)快速的特征进化如何影响替代社区状态的构成及其在元社区中的流行？在实验室微观世界实验中，将操纵影响替代群落状态的特征的初始立地变异，并将低变异(即较弱的进化)和高变异处理的群落状态的空间格局进行比较。(2)在什么条件下，快速进化和移民改变了另类群居状态影响物种共存的方式？将开发一个数学模型来模拟粘性猴花蜜中微生物群落的生态和进化动态。模拟将被用来评估如何维持物种之间的元群落水平的共存，尽管替代状态应该阻止共存。在解决这两个问题时，这位研究员将在从头开始建立特定于系统的模型、将实验数据与机械模型相匹配以及在实验室中处理微生物方面开发新的技能。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。

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.