NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology: Characterizing Ecological and Genetic Mechanisms of Hybrid Vigor in Boechera

NSF 生物学博士后奖学金：表征 Boechera 杂交活力的生态和遗传机制

• 批准号: 2305718
• 负责人: Gabrielle Sandstedt
• 金额: $ 24.9万
• 依托单位: Sandstedt, Gabrielle D
• 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: 2023-07-01 至 2026-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2305718&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; Postdoctoral; Fellowship; Biology; Characterizing

This action funds an NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2023. The fellowship supports a research and training plan in a host laboratory for the Fellow who also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Gabrielle Sandstedt is "Investigating the genetic and ecological basis of hybrid vigor in nature". The host institution for the fellowship is Utah State University and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Catherine Rushworth and Emily Josephs. A critical concern for plant breeding is ensuring food security in a world impacted by climate change. One approach to this problem is breeding genetically divergent plants to create hybrids that outperform their parents in survival and reproduction, a phenomenon called hybrid vigor. While hybrid vigor has led to the formation of many hybrid crops, it is not understood how hybrids will respond to changing environments. This work utilizes Boechera, a wildflower system to deepen an understanding of the genetics and ecology of hybrid vigor in nature. Such knowledge can be implemented to secure the food supply. Additionally, this research will allow to promote equitable opportunities for students in academia by participating in programs that support undergraduates from diverse backgrounds, such as Utah State University's Native American Summer Mentorship Program. The research also presents valuable opportunities initiating public discussions on the role of research in developing crops that meet the needs of a growing population. The Fellow will coordinate these discussions and provide learning activities at the longstanding scientific lecture series Science Unwrapped, a science outreach program hosted by Utah State University.The purpose of this research is to identify ecological variables and genetic mechanisms that facilitate hybrid vigor in nature. To pinpoint the effects of key environmental variables on hybrid vigor, parental lines and hybrid combinations of two Boechera species, along with wild-collected hybrids, will be planted in a manipulative field experiment and measured for fitness. The next objective uses genomic and transcriptomic sequencing data of natural hybrids and de novo crosses to determine the genetic mechanisms involved in hybrid vigor. This includes characterizing the distribution of genetic load within Boechera species, examining whether heterozygosity masking these alleles in hybrids predicts fitness across environments, and determining how differential gene expression underlying hybrid vigor phenotypes varies across environments. The research will generate extensive data, including seed collections, plant tissue samples, fitness and trait measurements (which will be submitted to https://datadryad.org), and several types of genomic sequence data (which will be made available on https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra). Together, these data will reveal ecological and genetic factors that contribute to hybrid vigor while providing substantial ecological and genetic resources.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.

这一行动为2023财年NSF植物基因组生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持在东道主实验室为该研究员制定的研究和培训计划，该研究员还提出了扩大生物学参与度的计划。加布里埃尔·桑德斯泰特的这项研究和培训计划的标题是“调查自然界杂交活力的遗传和生态基础”。该奖学金的主办机构是犹他州立大学，赞助科学家是凯瑟琳·拉什沃斯博士和艾米丽·约瑟夫斯博士。在一个受气候变化影响的世界里，植物育种的一个关键问题是确保粮食安全。解决这一问题的一种方法是培育遗传分化的植物，以产生在存活和繁殖方面优于双亲的杂交植株，这一现象被称为杂交活力。虽然杂交优势导致了许多杂交作物的形成，但人们还不清楚杂交作物将如何应对不断变化的环境。这项工作利用野花系统Boechera来加深对自然界杂交活力的遗传学和生态学的理解。这样的知识可以用来确保粮食供应。此外，这项研究将允许通过参与支持不同背景的本科生的项目，如犹他州州立大学的美国原住民暑期导师计划，促进学生在学术界的平等机会。这项研究还提供了宝贵的机会，启动关于研究在开发满足不断增长的人口需求的作物方面的作用的公开讨论。这位研究员将协调这些讨论，并在犹他州州立大学主办的科学推广项目--科学揭开的长期科学讲座系列上提供学习活动。这项研究的目的是识别促进自然界杂交活力的生态变量和遗传机制。为了查明关键环境变量对杂种活力的影响，将在田间进行操纵试验，种植两个牛角草属植物的亲本和杂交组合，以及野生收集的杂交种，并测量其适合度。下一个目标是利用天然杂交种和从头杂交的基因组和转录测序数据来确定与杂交活力有关的遗传机制。这包括表征Boechera物种内遗传负载的分布，检查杂合性是否掩盖了杂交种中的这些等位基因预测不同环境下的适合度，以及确定支撑杂交活力表型的差异基因表达如何在不同环境中变化。这项研究将产生广泛的数据，包括种子收集、植物组织样本、适合度和性状测量(将提交给https://datadryad.org)，)和几种类型的基因组序列数据(将在https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sra).上提供总而言之，这些数据将揭示有助于杂交活力的生态和遗传因素，同时提供大量的生态和遗传资源。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。