NSF PRFB FY 2023: The Evolution of Multiple Stressor Tolerance: From Genes to Whole Organism Performance

NSF PRFB 2023 财年：多重应激耐受性的演变：从基因到整个生物体的表现

• 批准号: 2305652
• 负责人: Bethany Williams
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Williams, Bethany L
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fellowship Award
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305652&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; PRFB; FY; 2023; Evolution

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023, 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. The study of multiple environmental stressors is challenging because potential interactions between stressors are complex. This proposal will provide insights into how tolerance to multiple stressors is shaped by ecological and evolutionary processes. Additionally, understanding how organisms respond to multiple stressors bears relevance to questions in basic ecological physiology and conservation, as organisms are faced with increasing anthropogenic pressures.Organisms that survive in environments with multiple stressors provide an excellent natural system to address these issues. This project will utilize the fish species Poecilia Mexicana, which exhibits exceptional tolerance to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen), to address how multiple stressors affect gene expression, physiological traits, and organismal performance, both in terms of plastic responses of individuals and evolutionary responses of populations. To determine how hypoxia and H2S tolerances are correlated and shaped by genetic and environmental effects, this project includes three aims. 1) The fellow will quantify gene expression and physiological responses to individual and multiple environmental stressors in both adapted and non-adapted populations. 2) The fellow will test whether existing plasticity in response to one environmental stressor (i.e., hypoxia) can increase tolerance to another stressor (i.e., H2S). 3) The fellow will compare co-tolerance to multiple stressors in hybrids to test whether phenotypic correlations between traits are maintained when co-adapted gene complexes are reshuffled in hybrid offspring. In addition to research objectives, this proposal includes four overarching training objectives that include technical knowledge, development of job application materials, teaching/mentoring, and public outreach to help the fellow achieve their goal of obtaining a faculty position after the completion of this postdoctoral fellowship. Additionally, the fellow will engage in several community outreach programs at the host institution to build the local community's enthusiasm for science in an informal way and to make scientists more accessible to address questions of public concern.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.

该行动资助了2023财年NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即研究基因组、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。多种环境压力源的研究是具有挑战性的，因为压力源之间的潜在相互作用是复杂的。该提案将提供对生态和进化过程如何塑造对多种压力的耐受性的见解。此外，了解生物体如何应对多种应激源与基本生态生理学和保护问题相关，因为生物体面临着越来越多的人为压力。在多种应激源环境中生存的生物体为解决这些问题提供了一个很好的自然系统。该项目将利用对硫化氢（H2S）和缺氧（低溶解氧）具有特殊耐受性的鱼类物种Poecilia Mexicana，以解决多种压力源如何影响基因表达，生理特征和生物体性能，无论是个体的塑性反应还是种群的进化反应。为了确定缺氧和H2S耐受性如何通过遗传和环境影响相互关联和塑造，该项目包括三个目标。1)该研究员将量化适应和非适应人群中对个体和多种环境压力的基因表达和生理反应。2)该研究员将测试现有的可塑性是否对一种环境应激源（即，缺氧）可以增加对另一种应激源的耐受性（即，H2S）。3)该研究员将在杂交后代中比较对多种压力源的共耐受性，以测试当共适应基因复合体在杂交后代中重新洗牌时，性状之间的表型相关性是否得以维持。除了研究目标外，该提案还包括四个总体培训目标，包括技术知识，工作申请材料的开发，教学/指导和公共宣传，以帮助研究员在完成博士后研究金后实现获得教师职位的目标。此外，该研究员将在主办机构参与多个社区外展项目，以非正式的方式培养当地社区对科学的热情，并使科学家更容易解决公众关心的问题。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。