NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Connecting comparative, genomic, and evolutionary ecology factors to extreme mammalian longevity

该行动为2020财年美国国家科学基金会生物学博士后研究奖学金提供资金，扩大生物学中代表性不足群体的参与。该奖学金支持研究员的一项研究和培训计划，该计划将增加生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。在哺乳动物中，最大寿命随着体重的增加而增加，因此大型物种往往比小型物种活得更长。蝙蝠是这个生命法则的一个独特例外，考虑到它们的体重，有几个物种的寿命比预期的要长得多。正如在几种蝙蝠中看到的那样，极端长寿是由修复细胞和组织损伤、维持免疫系统功能和防止导致与衰老相关的退行性疾病（如癌症）的突变出现的机制促进的。进化理论提出，飞行、夜间行为的进化，以及某些物种的冬眠，使蝙蝠摆脱了捕食等死亡来源，重塑了生命史，允许更多的投资机制，使蝙蝠在生命的老年阶段保持生殖和健康。该项目将通过基因组分析来验证这一理论，以探索具有不同寿命和生活史策略的近亲蝙蝠物种意外长寿的基础。他还将探索白鼻综合征（一种北美蝙蝠的新兴疾病）导致的死亡率如何重塑生活史，从而投资于促进蝙蝠种群健康衰老的机制。该项目将测试长期存在的老龄化理论，并评估自然人口中疾病死亡率对老龄化的影响。为了促进更广泛的生物学参与，该研究员将在一系列研讨会中强调来自代表性不足群体的科学家的研究，提供成功的榜样，以激励学生留在科学领域。进化理论认为，这一生命法则反映了维持和繁殖之间的生理权衡，而损伤理论则认为，衰老是磨损和撕裂的累积。该项目将测试衰老的相互竞争的理论，并阐明基因型到表型的联系和基因调控网络，这些都是极端长寿的基础，使用比较系统遗传学来测试极端长寿是通过与外在死亡率变化（进化论）或代谢率变化（损伤理论）相对应的特征进化的适应性模型进化而来的，还是遵循随机漫步模型；2)比较基因组学，探索几种蝙蝠谱系中极端长寿的分子相关性；3)在受白鼻综合征高疾病介导的外在死亡率影响的白头肌群中，寻找表观遗传年龄和实足年龄差异的特征。此外，该研究员将在纽约州立大学石溪分校建立一个系列研讨会，重点介绍来自生物学中代表性不足群体的早期职业研究人员。这一努力将提高未被充分代表的科学家的知名度，允许早期职业研究人员在领先的研究型大学建立合作关系，并解决未被充分代表的研究生的流失问题。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 2020, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. In mammals, maximum lifespan increases with body mass such that large species tend to live longer than smaller species. Bats are a unique exception to this Rule of Life and several species live much longer than expected given their body mass. Extreme longevity, as seen in several species of bats, is facilitated by mechanisms that repair cell and tissue damage, maintain immune system function, and prevent the emergence of mutations that cause aging-associated degenerative disease such as cancer. Evolutionary theory proposes that the evolution of flight, nocturnal behavior, and in some species, hibernation released bats from sources of mortality such as predation, reshaping life history to allow greater investment in mechanisms that allow bats to remain reproductive and healthy at older life stages. This project will test this theory using genomic analyses to explore the basis of unexpected longevity in pairs of closely related bat species with divergent lifespans and life history strategies. The fellow will also explore how mortality caused by white-nose syndrome, an emergent disease in North American bats, is reshaping life history and thus investment in the mechanisms that facilitate healthy aging among bat populations. This project will test longstanding theories of aging and evaluate the impact of disease mortality on aging in a natural population. To promote broader participation in biology, the fellow will highlight research by scientists from underrepresented groups in a seminar series, providing successful role models to inspire students to remain in science.Evolutionary Theory suggests that this Rule of Life reflects physiological tradeoffs between maintenance and reproduction, while Damage Theory proposes that aging results from an accumulation of wear and tear. This project will test competing theories of aging and elucidate genotype-to-phenotype connections and gene regulatory networks that underlie extreme longevity using 1) comparative phylogenetics to test whether extreme longevity evolved through an adaptive model of trait evolution corresponding to variation in extrinsic mortality (Evolutionary Theory) or to metabolic rate variation (Damage Theory) or following a random-walk model; 2) comparative genomics to explore the molecular correlates of extreme longevity in several bat lineages; and 3) a search for signatures of divergence between epigenetic age and chronological age among Myotis lucifugus populations impacted by high disease-mediated extrinsic mortality from white-nose syndrome. Further, the fellow will establish a seminar series at SUNY Stony Brook that highlights early-career researchers from underrepresented groups in biology. This effort will increase the visibility of underrepresented scientists, allow early-career researchers to establish collaborations at a leading research university, and combat the attrition of underrepresented graduate students.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.