NSF PRFB FY 2023: Mechanisms and evolutionary maintenance of thermal plasticity and adaptation in a splash pool copepod

NSF PRFB 2023 财年：飞溅池桡足类热可塑性和适应性的机制和进化维持

• 批准号: 2305966
• 负责人: Isabelle Neylan
• 金额: $ 24万
• 依托单位: Neylan, Isabelle P
• 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=2305966&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; PRFB; FY; 2023; Mechanisms

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. In our rapidly changing world, it is becoming more and more important to understand how and when species will be able to adapt to stressors. In particular, increasing and more variable temperatures are a major threat that impacts physiological performance and species distributions. We know that species may adapt genetically to these stresses over time, but they may also acclimate more rapidly through changes that do not involve genes within a generation or even across generations. Parsing apart when these various forms of adaptation and acclimation should be favored and what mechanisms may be employed are crucial to predicting how species should fare under climate change.There is a large body of literature outlining under what environmental conditions we should expect plasticity versus genetic adaptation to be favored. However, less is known about what conditions favor different forms of plasticity (developmental, reversible acclimation, transgenerational) and how these various forms may interact to create optimal phenotypes. Using lab-reared populations of a common splash pool copepod that have been specifically selected to promote different patterns of plasticity, this project will be able to test theoretical predictions empirically and contribute to our understanding of how genomes interact with the environment to produce adaptive phenotypes. Additionally, there is a gap in knowledge surrounding the mechanisms behind these forms of plasticity. Epigenetic marks (i.e., DNA methylation) may be driving differences in gene expression that allow for species to adjust their phenotypes and physiology in response to stress. By combining an examination of the epigenetic signature of animals with known stress exposures and evolutionary histories (both lab-reared and wild populations) along with the extensive genomic and transcriptomic data from this study system, the fellow will examine the molecular mechanisms contributing to these broad-scale ecological and evolutionary patterns. Additionally, the fellow will strive to broaden participation in science by leading a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) and by participating in community outreach and engagement. The fellow will also engage in open and transparent science by sharing both results (sequences, data sets) and processes (code, pipelines) of this project.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.

这项行动资助了2023财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，综合研究调查了基因组，环境和表型之间的生命管理相互作用的规则。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。在我们快速变化的世界中，了解物种如何以及何时能够适应压力变得越来越重要。特别是，不断增加和更多的可变温度是影响生理性能和物种分布的主要威胁。我们知道，随着时间的推移，物种可能会从遗传上适应这些压力，但它们也可能通过不涉及一代人甚至几代人基因的变化更快地适应。分析何时应该支持这些不同形式的适应和驯化以及可以采用哪些机制对于预测物种在气候变化下的表现至关重要。有大量文献概述了在什么环境条件下我们应该期望可塑性与遗传适应相比较有利。然而，人们对什么样的条件有利于不同形式的可塑性（发育，可逆适应，跨代）以及这些不同形式如何相互作用以创造最佳表型知之甚少。使用实验室饲养的一个共同的飞溅池桡足类，已被专门选择，以促进不同模式的可塑性，该项目将能够测试理论预测经验，并有助于我们了解基因组如何与环境相互作用，以产生适应性表型。此外，围绕这些形式的可塑性背后的机制存在知识空白。表观遗传标记（即，DNA甲基化）可能驱动基因表达的差异，使物种能够调整其表型和生理学以应对压力。通过将对具有已知压力暴露和进化历史（实验室饲养和野生种群）的动物的表观遗传特征的检查与本研究系统的广泛基因组和转录组数据沿着，该研究员将研究有助于这些大规模生态和进化模式的分子机制。此外，该研究员将努力通过领导以课程为基础的本科生研究经验（CURE）和参与社区外联和参与来扩大对科学的参与。该研究员还将通过分享该项目的成果（序列，数据集）和过程（代码，管道）来参与开放和透明的科学。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得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来支持。