IOS: Nutrient Exchange and Regulation at the Aphid Symbiotic Interface

真核生物宿主和细菌群落之间的共生关系对人类健康和生态系统功能至关重要。收集大量的DNA序列数据已经变得相对容易，因此，宿主/微生物组功能的模型正在积累。关键是，大多数模型缺乏实验测试。在一个涉及一个真核宿主与单个细菌共生体配对的系统中工作，研究人员将测试共生功能模型，以确定共生的基本设计原则。该项目将利用非常富有成效的合作，进一步研究昆虫营养运输和调节的性质；具体来说，研究人员将利用模型蚜虫Acyrthosiphon pisum及其共生体蚜虫Buchnera aphidicola来充分表征蚜虫和细菌之间的底物和转运体的反馈调节。第一个目标是测试基于全基因组的共生功能和调控模型。研究小组将在南非爪蛙的卵母细胞中短暂表达取食昆虫的转运蛋白，以测试基于基因组序列的共生功能模型和宿主/共生调节。因为蚜虫既是一种重要的作物害虫，也是研究共生关系的优秀模型，任何增加对蚜虫基本生物学理解的工作都能提高我们开发生态安全的害虫控制方法的能力，并可能促进蚜虫作为理解细菌感染过程的模型的发展。豌豆蚜及其相关昆虫转运蛋白的功能表征将有助于在其他昆虫系统中开展比较工作，从而有利于对所有节肢动物基因组中的转运蛋白进行注释。第二个目标是通过制作六部关于蚜虫、共生科学和科学家生活的广播级电影，将美国国家科学基金会资助的基础研究带入美国人的生活。这些电影将得到针对幼儿和中学生的课程资源开发的支持。最后，本项目支持一位处于职业生涯中期的女性科学家的研究项目。

Symbioses between eukaryotic hosts and bacterial consortia are fundamentally important to human health and ecosystem function. Gathering large amounts of DNA sequence data has become relatively easy and thus, models of host/microbiome function are accumulating. Critically, most models lack experimental tests. Working in a system that involves one eukaryotic host paired with a single bacterial symbiont the investigators will test models of symbiotic function to identify fundamental design principles in symbiosis. The project will exploit a very productive collaboration to further examine the nature of nutrient transport and regulation in insects; specifically, the investigators will exploit the model aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, and its symbiont, Buchnera aphidicola, to fully characterize the substrate and feedback regulation of transporters between the aphid and bacterium. The first objective targets testing whole genome based models of symbiotic function and regulation. The research team will transiently express transporters of sap-feeding insects in oocytes of the South African clawed frog to test genome sequence based models of symbiotic function and host/symbiont regulation. Because aphids are both a significant crop pest and excellent models for the study of symbiosis any work that increases understanding of basic aphid biology increases our ability to develop ecologically safe methods of pest control and may facilitate development of the aphid as a model for understanding the process of bacterial infection. Functional characterization of transporters in the pea aphid and related insects will facilitate comparative work in other insect systems thus benefitting the annotation of transporters in all arthropod genomes. The second objective targets bringing NSF-funded basic research into the lives of Americans through the production of six broadcast quality films about aphids, the science of symbiosis and life as a scientist. The films will be supported by development of curricular resources that target early childhood and middle school children. Finally, this project supports the research program of a mid-career female scientist.