NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY2008

这项行动为2008财政年度的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金。该奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，题为“真菌基因簇的起源、秩序和遗传的动力学和生态意义”，为杰森·C·时隙这项研究的主办机构是范德比尔特大学，赞助科学家是Antonis Rokas博士。基因在基因组中的位置可能在基因的整体功能和进化以及生物体的生态学中起作用。例如，在真菌中，一起工作的基因通常并排位于基因组中，似乎更容易协调基因的功能。这一点很重要，因为这些基因的功能与真菌如何发挥作用或导致植物和动物（包括人类）的疾病有关。这种紧密相连的基因，称为“基因簇”，其进化还没有得到很好的理解。有时，基因簇可以从一种真菌转移到另一种不相关的真菌，然后获得引起疾病或转移到新生态位的能力。这项研究正在研究基因簇如何在真菌中产生和进化，以及它们在不相关真菌之间转移的频率。培训目标包括培养生物编程和基因组探索方面的技能，以解决真菌基因组进化的这些基本但未充分研究的问题。更广泛的影响包括新的科学知识和教育活动。正在开发的生物信息学工具将广泛适用于其他生物体，因为它们的基因组正在研究中;这项研究的具体结果将有助于改进管理真菌疾病的战略，特别是在森林生态系统中。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2008. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Dynamics and ecological significance of the origins, order and inheritance of fungal gene clusters" for Jason C. Slot. The host institution for this research is Vanderbilt University, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Antonis Rokas. The location of genes in a genome may play a role in the gene's overall function and evolution and the ecology of the organism. For example, in fungi, genes that work together are often located side-by-side in the genome seemingly to make it easier to coordinate the genes' functions. This is important because the functions of these genes relate to how a fungus functions or causes diseases of plants and animals, including humans. The evolution of such closely linked genes, called "gene clusters", is not well understood. Sometimes gene clusters can be transferred from one fungus to another unrelated fungus, which then gains the ability to cause disease or move to a new ecological niche. This research is investigating how gene clusters arise and evolve in fungi and how often they are transferred between unrelated fungi. The training goals include developing the skills in biological programming and genome exploration to address such fundamental, yet under-studied, questions of fungal genome evolution. Broader impacts include new scientific knowledge and educational activities. The bioinformatics tools being developed will be broadly applicable to other organisms as their genomes are studied; and the specific findings of this research will contribute to improved strategies of managing fungal diseases, especially in forest ecosystems.