NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2019: Evolution and mechanisms of specialization in an endangered plant lineage

本行动资助NSF 2019年度生物学博士后研究奖学金，利用生物馆藏进行研究。该奖学金支持研究和培训将以创新的方式利用生物收集的研究员。该项目推进了共生、进化生物学和保护生物学的研究，对普通公众和从幼儿园到研究生院的学生都有更广泛的影响。物种之间的相互作用对于产生今天所见的丰富的生物多样性非常重要，然而物种之间高度专业化的相互作用在自然界中是罕见的，被认为是进化的死胡同。该项目详细介绍了赞比亚苏铁植物的进化史，它们的共生昆虫和这些昆虫的共生肠道细菌。它通过比较共生昆虫和寄生昆虫之间以及昆虫和细菌之间的关系，评估物种相互作用对进化轨迹的影响。这种对整个相互作用伙伴网络的进化分析是同类中的第一次，它将表明，专业化的谱系不一定是进化的死胡同，并定义了可能导致谱系多样化的物种相互作用的机制。最后，本文强调了一个濒临灭绝的植物谱系，定义了共生昆虫的保护状况，并描述了谱系持续存在的相互作用的必要性。通过阿特金斯可持续发展中心的介绍和苏铁学会通讯中的科普文章，该系统非常适合让公众参与到保护问题中来。该项目通过在纽约高中、家庭学校和青少年拘留中心的演讲，以及为本科生和研究生提供的密集研讨会和实验室指导机会，广泛应用于学生参与。本项目使用古老的植物属Zamia及其多种专门化关系来描述物种相互作用网络的进化史，以及高度专门化相互作用中谱系多样化的潜力和机制。它将利用从保存和固定的博物馆藏品中提取的DNA，为整个合作伙伴网络建立系统发育假说：植物、传粉和食草昆虫，以及昆虫的共生肠道细菌。在进化过程中，物种相互作用对谱系多样化的贡献将通过比较博物馆收藏的形态特征和来自活体收藏的非形态表型特征的进化来评估。利用寄主转移昆虫的种群遗传学分析生态时间内的谱系多样化。最后，利用化学生态学和昆虫生理学的方法描述昆虫对伴侣忠诚和伴侣多样化的感知机制。该研究员将在康奈尔大学接受系统发育、种群遗传学、定量形态计量学、化学生态学和昆虫生理学方法方面的培训。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2019, Research Using Biological Collections. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will utilize biological collections in innovative ways. This project advances the study of symbiosis, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology and has broader impacts for both the general public and students from kindergarten through graduate school. Interactions among species are hugely important for generating the wealth of biodiversity seen today, yet highly specialized interactions between species are rare in nature and are thought of as evolutionary dead ends. The project details the evolutionary history of Zamia cycad plants, their symbiotic insects and the symbiotic gut bacteria of those insects. It assesses the effects of species-interactions on evolutionary trajectories, with comparisons between mutualistic and parasitic insects and amongst insects and bacteria. This evolutionary analysis of an entire network of interacting partners is the first of its kind and will show that specialized lineages are not necessarily evolutionary dead ends and define the mechanisms of species interactions that can lead to lineage diversification. Finally, this work highlights an endangered plant lineage, defines conservation status of symbiotic insects, and describes the necessity of interactions for lineage persistence. This system is ideal to engage the general public in conservation concerns through presentations with the Atkins Center for Sustainability and popular science articles in the Cycad Society Newsletter. The project has broad applications for student engagement as well through presentations at New York high schools, home schools, and youth detention centers, and intensive workshops and laboratory mentoring opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.This project uses the ancient plant genus Zamia and its multiple specialized relationships to describe the evolutionary history of a species interaction network and the potential for, and mechanisms of, lineage diversification in highly specialized interactions. It will utilize DNA extractions from preserved and pinned museum collections to build phylogenetic hypotheses for the entire network of partners: plants, pollinating and herbivorous insects, and insects' symbiotic gut bacteria. The contribution of species interactions to lineage diversification in evolutionary time will be assessed using comparative evolution of morphological traits from museum collections along with non-morphological phenotypic traits from living collections. Lineage diversification in ecological time will be analyzed using population genetics of host-shifting insects in living collections. Finally, insect mechanisms of host perception that contribute to partner fidelity and partner diversification will be described using chemical ecology and insect physiology methods. The fellow will receive training in phylogenetic, population genetic, quantitative morphometric, chemical ecology and insect physiology methods at Cornell University.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.