NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2020: Diet and the microbiome as drivers of host tolerance and resistance to parasites

该行动资助了NSF 2020财年生物学博士后研究奖学金，研究基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持将以创新方式对生活规则领域作出贡献的研究员的研究和培训。这项研究调查了饮食和肠道微生物群（在动物消化道中生活并发挥重要作用的微生物）如何影响宿主对寄生虫的防御。许多因素可以影响野生动物的饮食，包括季节性、栖息地改变和人类补充喂养导致的营养资源的变化。饮食营养物质（如蛋白质和脂肪）的变化会影响免疫系统，影响动物抵御寄生虫的能力。饮食对免疫的影响可能是通过改变肠道微生物组的组成和功能来介导的。本研究的目的是确定饮食营养和肠道微生物组如何影响箱巢东部蓝鸟（Sialia sialis）和寄生巢蝇（Protocalliphora Sialia）之间的相互作用。这项研究将揭示营养资源如何影响宿主免疫，并将对生物体及其寄生虫如何应对饮食环境变化产生预测性见解。该项目还将通过研究和专业发展方面的培训促进高中生和本科生的教育。箱巢鸟提供了一个理想的系统来探索营养、免疫、肠道菌群和寄生之间的关系，因为巢通常被寄生，并且在后代羽化后可以通过收集巢来非侵入性地量化寄生虫负荷。该系统还在野外环境中提供了强大的实验能力，在野外环境中，可以通过喂养雏鸟来操纵雏鸟的饮食，给雏鸟口服抗生素可以实验性地破坏雏鸟的肠道微生物群。采用因子设计，对雏鸟的饮食宏量营养素含量和肠道微生物群进行控制，然后对雏鸟免疫力、肠道微生物群和寄生虫丰度进行表征。此外，该研究将确定肠道共生体是否产生影响宿主基因表达和宿主-寄生虫相互作用的免疫调节代谢物。该项目将促进研究员在转录组学和代谢组学方面的训练和成长。拟议的工作还将包括更广泛的影响，通过直接参与高中和本科生的数据收集，公共教育计划，以及与研究相关的K-12活动的发展。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, Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes, Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow that will contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. This research investigates how diet and the gut microbiome (microbes that live and play essential roles in the digestive track of animals) influences host defenses against parasites. Many factors can influence the diet of wildlife, including shifts in nutritional resources due to seasonality, habitat alteration, and supplemental feeding by humans. Shifts in dietary nutrients, such as proteins and fats, can affect the immune system and influence an animal’s ability to defend against parasites. The effects of diet on immunity could be mediated by changes in the composition and function of the gut microbiome. The goal of this research is to determine how dietary nutrients and the gut microbiome affect interactions between box-nesting eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) and the parasitic nest fly (Protocalliphora sialia). This research will shed light on how nutritional resources influence host immunity and will yield predictive insight into how organisms and their parasites will respond to environmental shifts in diet. The project will also promote the education of high school and undergraduate students through training in research and professional development.Box-nesting birds offer an ideal system to explore relationships between nutrition, immunity, gut microflora, and parasitism as nests are commonly parasitized and parasite load can be non-invasively quantified through the collection of nests after offspring fledge. This system also offers strong experimental capabilities in a field setting, where nestling diet can be manipulated by feeding nestlings and dosing offspring with an oral antibiotic can experimentally disrupt nestling gut microflora. Using a factorial design, diet macronutrient content and the gut microbiome will be manipulated in nestling bluebirds and then nestling immunity, gut microflora, and parasite abundance will be characterized. Additionally, the research will determine whether gut symbionts produce immune-modulatory metabolites that shape host gene expression and host-parasite interactions. The project will facilitate the fellow’s training and growth in transcriptomics and metabolomics. The proposed work will also include broader impacts through the direct involvement of high school and undergraduate mentees in data collection, public educational programs, and the development of K-12 activities related to the research.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.