NSF PRFB FY 2023: Investigating environmental and genomic regulation of molt in birds

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。这项研究将重点放在换羽上，换羽是鸟类每年蜕下旧羽毛并换上新羽毛的过程。蜕皮是鸟类年度周期中的重要事件，因为羽毛会随着时间的推移而磨损。为了满足羽毛生长的高代谢需求，鸟类种群已经进化到在资源丰富的时间和地点换羽。如果出于某种原因，鸟类在换羽期间无法获得足够的资源，它们将长出质量差的羽毛，并在接下来的一年里有更高的死亡风险。不幸的是，由于气候变化改变了降水模式，鸟类种群可能很快就会面临羽毛生长期和资源可用性之间的不匹配。在这项研究中，研究人员将评估在蜕皮期间降水的持续变化对鸟类种群的影响程度。通过描述换羽行为的个体变异和灵活性，以及换羽行为随着环境变化而进化的潜力，研究人员将有助于更新北美西部鸟类当前的气候变化风险评估，并改进保护策略。此外，该项目将制作外联材料，向全国的社区科学家传达研究蜕皮的重要性，并为本科生提供研究机会，从而扩大科学和观鸟社区的参与。研究人员将首先通过检查发生记录和部署微型跟踪设备，描述一种广泛分布的雀形目物种——青石鹀（Passerina amoena）的换羽行为的种内变化。然后，他将从蜕皮地点和物候特征最不同的种群中挑选个体，将它们圈养在不同的环境中，让它们暴露在可能引发蜕皮的不同环境中。在每个圈养个体开始换羽行为后，研究人员将生成转录组序列，以确定与换羽行为相关的位点。通过确定不同种群中调节换羽的环境和基因组机制，研究人员将能够了解换羽行为的可塑性以及种群改变换羽行为的进化潜力。在这项研究的所有阶段，将有很多机会涉及来自代表性不足群体的本科研究人员。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. This research will focus on molt, the annual process by which birds lose their old feathers and replace them with new ones. Molt is an essential event in the bird’s annual cycle because feathers wear down over time. To meet the high metabolic demands of feather growth, bird populations have evolved to molt at times and in locations with abundant resources. If, for whatever reason, birds are unable to access sufficient resources during the molting period, they will grow poor quality feathers and have an elevated risk of mortality in the following year. Unfortunately, bird populations may soon face mismatches between periods of feather growth and resource availability as climate change alters patterns of precipitation. In this study, the researcher will assess the extent to which ongoing changes in precipitation challenge bird populations during molt. By describing individual variation and flexibility in molting behavior and the potential for molting behavior to evolve in response to changing conditions, the researcher will help update current climate change risk assessments for bird species in western North America and improve conservation strategies. Additionally, this project will generate outreach materials communicating the importance of studying molt to community scientists across the country and provide research opportunities for undergraduate students, thereby broadening participation in the scientific and birding communities.The researcher will first describe intraspecific variation in molting behavior in a wide-ranging passerine species, the Lazuli Bunting (Passerina amoena), by examining occurrence records and deploying miniature tracking devices. He will then take individuals from populations with the most divergent molting locations and phenologies into captivity and expose them to different environmental cues that could trigger molt. Following the onset of molting behavior in each captive individual, the researcher will then generate transcriptomic sequences to identify loci associated with molting behavior. By determining the environmental and genomic mechanisms that regulate molt in different populations, the researcher will be able to understand plasticity in molting behavior and the evolutionary potential for populations to shift molting behavior. In all stages of this research, there will be many opportunities to involve undergraduate researchers from underrepresented groups.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.