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与其他科学学科交叉的新兴领域（在这种情况下是数学和物理科学）的职业生涯做好准备。这些研究员有望成为美国未来科学队伍的领导者。罗德里戈·奥拉特博士的奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，以了解真菌黄曲霉中被称为隐性等位基因的遗传元素，黄曲霉可以通过产生黄曲霉毒素来污染食物。预计研究结果将有助于制定更好的控制策略，以减少或消除玉米、棉花和花生等易受黄曲霉感染的重要农业作物的黄曲霉毒素污染。该奖学金的主办机构是明尼苏达大学，赞助科学家是dr。乔治亚娜·梅和亚尼夫·布兰德万。那家伙吗?S的培训目标包括学习数学建模技术和应用生态实验来确定全球背景下隐等位基因的起源、组成和分布。教育拓展活动包括培训和指导本科生项目，如本科生研究机会项目。真菌产生丰富的代谢化合物，但对这些不同化合物的进化起源或生态重要性知之甚少。本研究以黄曲霉毒素的产生为模型系统，探讨影响微生物毒素进化的生态因素。隐等位基因被认为在物种进化的早期就出现了，并且在黄菖蒲种群中维持了很长一段时间。本研究旨在了解这些隐性等位基因的功能意义，因为它们与真菌毒素生产中表达定量和定性变异的分离株的竞争力有关。该项目的总体目标是更好地了解生态和进化过程如何影响黄曲霉毒素基因簇的变异和种群水平的变异。

NSF Postdoctoral Fellowships in Biology combine research and training components to prepare young scientists for careers in emerging areas where biology intersects with other scientific disciplines, in this case with mathematics and physical sciences. The Fellows are expected to be leaders of the nation's scientific workforce of the future. This fellowship to Dr. Rodrigo Olarte supports a research and training plan to understand genetic elements, called cryptic alleles, in the fungus Aspergillus flavus which can contaminate foods by producing aflatoxins. Research results are expected to be useful in formulating better control strategies that target the reduction or elimination of aflatoxin contamination in agriculturally important crops susceptible to A. flavus infection such as corn, cotton and peanut. The host institution for this fellowship is the University of Minnesota and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Georgiana May and Yaniv Brandvain. The Fellow?s training goals include learning mathematical modeling techniques and applying ecological experimentation to determine the origin, composition and distribution of the cryptic alleles in a global context. Educational outreach activities include training and mentoring undergraduates in programs, such as the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.Fungi produce a wealth of metabolic compounds but little is known of the evolutionary origin or ecological importance of these diverse compounds. In this research, aflatoxin production by A. flavus is being used as a model system to investigate the ecological factors affecting the evolution of microbial toxins. Cryptic alleles are suggested to have arisen early in the evolution of the species and since been maintained in A. flavus populations for long periods of time. This research aims to understand the functional significance of these cryptic alleles as they pertain to the competiveness of isolates expressing quantitative and qualitative variation in mycotoxin production. The overall goal of this project is to gain a better understanding of how ecological and evolutionary processes affect variation at the aflatoxin gene cluster and population-level variation in A. flavus.