NSF PRFB FY 2023: The evolution and ecological drivers of retinal specializations in fish

该行动资助了美国国家科学基金会2023财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，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。对于许多物种来说，视觉是生存所必需的，但物种根据它们所处的环境有非常不同的视觉要求，我们并不完全了解物种是如何适应这些不同的视觉环境的。许多动物的视网膜上都有专门的区域，如中央区域（高细胞密度区域）、水平条纹（横跨视网膜的高细胞密度细长区域）或中央凹（视网膜上的物理凹陷）。这些特化可能有助于动物在不同的视觉环境中看到东西，但这还没有在多个物种之间进行比较测试，这些特化的确切功能尚不清楚。视网膜也会在出生后或孵化后继续发育，但这一过程尚不清楚。鱼类是研究视网膜特化功能和发展的绝佳模型，因为它们已经多次进化出这些特化功能，并且它们经历了许多不同的视觉环境，从深海到明亮且结构复杂的珊瑚礁。该项目将结合进化基因组学和鱼类发育生物学来研究视网膜特化的进化和发展。这将解决关于环境和发展如何塑造眼睛的生物学和进化的基本问题。该研究员将完成两个目标：(1)在系统发育比较框架下研究视网膜特化的生态学意义和遗传基础；(2)检验在生命阶段更大的生态变化导致鱼类视网膜更大的分子分化的预测。在Aim 1中，研究员将使用细胞生物学和显微镜技术从大量鱼类样本中收集视网膜特化的数据，然后在控制了共同的进化史后，测试不同的视网膜特化是否与鳐鱼的不同生态特征相关。目标2将包括收集来自多个物种和发育时间点的单细胞测序数据，以比较不同发育阶段的相对分化率。该研究员还将指导本科生，在公立学校进行拓展，在会议上展示工作，并在同行评议的期刊上发表文章。这些研究和专业发展活动将为研究员提供培训，使其成为一名独立的研究人员，并将通过与科学界和公众分享工作来产生更广泛的影响。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。

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. Vision is necessary for survival in many species, but species can have very different visual requirements based on their environment, and we do not fully understand how species adapt to these different visual environments. Many animals have specialized regions in the retina, such as an area centralis (region of high cell density), a horizontal streak (elongated region of high cell density stretching across the retina), or a fovea (physical indentation in the retina). These specializations may help animals see in different visual environments, but this has not been tested using comparisons across multiple species, and the exact functions of these specializations are unknown. The retina also continues to develop postnatally or post-hatching, but this process is not well understood. Fish are excellent models for studying the functions and development of retinal specializations because they have evolved these specializations multiple times, and they experience many different visual environments, from the deep sea to bright and structurally complex coral reefs. The proposed project will combine evolutionary genomics with developmental biology in fish to study the evolution and development of retinal specializations. This will address fundamental questions about how the environment and development shape the biology and evolution of the eye.The fellow will complete two aims: (1) Investigate the ecological significance and genetic basis of retinal specializations in a phylogenetic comparative framework; (2) Test the prediction that greater ecological changes across life stages lead to greater molecular divergence in fish retinas. In Aim 1, the fellow will use cell biology and microscopy techniques to collect data on retinal specializations from a large sample of fish species, then test if different retinal specializations are associated with different ecological traits in ray-finned fish after controlling for shared evolutionary history. Aim 2 will involve collecting single-cell sequencing data from multiple species and developmental time points to compare relative rates of divergence at different stages of development. The fellow will also mentor undergraduates, do outreach in public schools, present work at conferences, and publish in peer-reviewed journals. These research and professional development activities will provide training for the fellow to become an independent researcher and will contribute to broader impacts by sharing the work with the scientific community and the general 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.