NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2014

NSF生物学博士后奖学金将研究和培训相结合，为年轻科学家在生物学领域的职业生涯做好准备，并为他们提供建立国际合作的机会，并利用国外的研究设施和机会。建立强有力的国际合作对美国和外国东道国都是有利的。凯文·科尔的奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，以调查活产和产卵蜥蜴肠道微生物的母体传播。这项奖学金的主办机构是阿根廷的国立圣路易斯大学，赞助科学家是恩里克·卡维德斯·维达尔博士。肠道微生物在动物的生态和进化中起着极其重要的作用。肠道微生物有可能由新生儿获得或由母体传播。母体传播的大多数证据来自对哺乳动物的研究。这项研究的中心是通过卵繁殖的动物，以及幼仔如何获得肠道微生物。之所以选择Liolaemidae家族的蜥蜴作为研究对象，是因为它包含了150多个物种，它们的生育策略各不相同，有些是产卵的，而另一些是生育的。所选择的实验系统是比较活产和产卵蜥蜴之间肠道微生物传播途径和微生物群落功能的理想选择，使用宏基因组学和全动物生产性能分析。总的来说，据预测，活产允许更多的微生物在母亲和后代之间传播，产生更大的微生物性能。培训目标包括获得宏基因组测序的专业知识，作为了解整个微生物群落功能的工具。教育活动和公众宣传包括指导本科生和维护视频博客，以提供最新的研究进展和传播研究成果。该奖学金提供了一个与阿根廷科学家建立国际合作的机会，由综合和国际活动办公室资助。

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biology combine research and training components to prepare young scientists for careers in biology and provide them an opportunity to establish international collaborations and take advantage of research facilities and opportunities abroad. Forging strong international collaborations is mutually beneficial to the U.S. and the foreign hosts. This fellowship to Kevin Kohl supports a research and training plan to investigate maternal transmission of gut microbes in live-bearing and egg-laying lizards. The host institution for this fellowship is Universidad Nacional de San Luis in Argentina, and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Enrique Caviedes-Vidal. Microbes inhabiting the gut play an extremely large role in the ecology and evolution of animals. It is possible that gut microbes are acquired by newborns or are maternally transmitted. Most of the evidence for maternal transmission is from studies in mammals. This research centers on animals who reproduce by eggs and how gut microbes are acquired by hatchlings. Lizards of the family Liolaemidae have been selected for study because it contains over 150 species that exhibit variation in their birth strategies, some are egg laying while others are live-bearing. The chosen experimental system is ideal for comparing transmission routes of gut microbes between live-bearing and egg-laying lizards and the functions of the microbial communities using metagenomics and whole-animal performance assays. Overall, it is predicted that live birth allows for greater microbial transmission between mothers and offspring, yielding greater microbial performance.Training goals include acquiring expertise in metagenomic sequencing as a tool for the understanding the functions of whole microbial communities. Educational activites and public outreach include mentoring undergraduates and maintaining a video blog to provide updates on research progress and disseminate research results. The fellowship affords an opportunity to establish an international collaboration with scientists in Argentia and is funded with the Office of Integrative and International Activities.