NSF NPGI Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

这一行动为NSF国家植物基因组计划2016财年生物学博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持一项研究和培训计划，并提出了一项扩大生物学参与度的计划。艾丽斯·麦奎因博士的这项研究和培训计划的标题是《菜豆产量变异的基因组学和品种与环境相互作用的生理学》。该奖学金的主办机构是德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校，赞助科学家是Tom Juenger博士。菜豆是世界上消费最多的植物蛋白质来源，在发展中国家是一种特别重要的蛋白质来源。一个紧迫的重要问题是，重要的作物性状，如蛋白质或产量，如何受到基因与环境的相互作用，即所谓的GxE相互作用的影响。菜豆被驯化以适应广泛的环境，因此是研究作物性状如何由GxE互作决定的极佳候选者。34年来，美国36个地点种植的500多个普通豆类品种的广泛数据集将不同环境中的豆类特征联系在一起。这项研究项目利用了这些历史数据集，并将记录普通菜豆的遗传变异，从而提供一个令人兴奋的机会，将这些性状与它们的基因驱动因素联系起来。本科生将接受尖端基因组分析方面的培训，公众将通过与伯德夫人约翰逊野花中心的外展活动了解植物基因组学。该项目结合实验和计算分析，以确定GxE对菜豆产量变异和其他性状的交互作用。将产生新的关联图谱群体，这些群体将直接连接到历史上稳健的数据集，其中包含菜豆的表型和产量数据。产量变异的遗传学将通过全基因组关联方法来确定，既包括品种间基因组差异的区域，也包括由菜豆小种之间的局部适应所固定的基因组区域。该项目将测试带有和不带有GxE的品种之间的差异表达和生理学，以响应特定的气候驱动因素。

This action funds an NSF National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016. The fellowship supports a research and training plan and also presents a plan to broaden participation in biology. The title of the research and training plan for this fellowship to Dr. Alice MacQueen is "Genomics of yield variation and physiology of genotype-by-environment interactions in common bean." The host institution for the fellowship is the University of Texas at Austin and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Tom Juenger.Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is the most consumed source of plant protein worldwide and is a particularly important source of protein in the developing world. A question of pressing importance is how important crop traits, such as protein or yield, were influenced by interaction of genes with the environment, so called GXE interactions. Common bean was domesticated to grow in a wide variety of environments and is thus an excellent candidate to explore how crop traits are determined by GXE interactions. An extensive dataset of over 500 common bean varieties grown at 36 locations across the United States over 34 years links bean traits in different environments. This research project leverages these historical datasets and will document genetic variation in common bean, thus providing an exciting opportunity to connect the traits to their genetic drivers. Undergraduate students will be trained in cutting edge genomic analysis and the public will learn about plant genomics through outreach activities with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.This project combines experiments and computational analyses to determine the interactions of GXE on yield variation and other traits of common bean. New association mapping populations will be produced, and these will be directly connected to historically robust datasets containing phenotype and yield data for common bean. The genetics of yield variation will be determined through genome-wide association approaches, both for regions with genomic variation between varieties and genomic regions fixed by local adaptation between bean races. The project will test for differential expression and physiology between varieties with and without GxE in response to specific climate drivers.