Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Microbial Biology for FY 2004

这一行动为NSF 2004财年微生物生物学博士后奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持关于原生动物、微藻、真菌、古生物、细菌和病毒物种的基本生物学的培训和研究，这些物种通常不被认为是模式生物。此外，它还为新近获得博士学位的人提供了在微生物生物学方面获得额外培训的机会，在知名科学家的赞助下获得研究经验，并在本科和研究生培训期间拓宽他们的科学视野，超越研究经验。这些奖学金的进一步设计是为了帮助新科学家引导他们的研究工作跨越传统的学科界限，并利用独特的研究资源、地点和设施，包括外国地点。研究和培训计划的标题是“相关细菌病原体、昆虫媒介和它们的寄主植物的多物种相互作用”。植物遭受大量寄生虫的攻击，包括昆虫和细菌病原体。柑橘螺旋体及其叶蝉介体Circulifer tenellus是已知的危害柑橘和十字花科作物的病原体。这项研究调查了这些生物之间的相互作用，揭示了病原体和它们的昆虫媒介之间互惠或寄生的可能性，以及植物协调多种防御反应的能力。这位研究员正在发展微生物学方面的技能，包括显微镜和培养技术，同时学习使用微阵列分析基因表达。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Microbial biology for FY2004. The fellowship supports training and research on the basic biology of protozoan, microalgal, fungal, archaeal, bacterial and viral species that are not generally considered to be model organisms. Further, it provides opportunities for recent doctoral recipients to obtain additional training in microbial biology, to gain research experience under the sponsorship of established scientists, and to broaden their scientific horizons beyond the research experiences during the undergraduate and graduate training. These fellowships are further designed to assist new scientists to direct their research efforts across traditional disciplinary lines and to avail themselves of unique research resources, sites, and facilities, including foreign locations.The research and training plan is entitled "Multispecies interactions in associated bacterial pathogens, insect vectors, and their host plants." Plants suffer from attack by numerous parasites, including insects and bacterial pathogens. The bacterial pathogen Spiroplasma citri, and its leafhopper vector, Circulifer tenellus, are known to attack citrus and crucifer crops. This study investigates interactions between these organisms, revealing the potential for mutualism or parasitism between pathogens and their insect vectors and the abilities of plants to coordinate multiple defense responses. The Fellow is developing skills in microbiology, including microscopy and culturing techniques, while learning to use microarrays for the analysis of gene expression.