NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2021: Leveraging rapid evolution to study the dynamics of polygenic adaptation

该行动资助了2021财年的NSF生物学博士后研究奖学金，即调查基因组，环境和表型之间相互作用的生命规则的综合研究。该奖学金支持研究和培训的研究员，这将有助于在生活规则领域的创新方式。这位研究员将进行多基因性状的研究，多基因性状是指受个体基因组中许多基因影响的生物体的物理特征或表型。多基因性状的例子包括许多人类疾病和珊瑚礁对全球气候变化的适应能力。该研究员将进行实验，以了解：（1）个体之间的遗传差异如何引起多基因性状的物理表达差异，以及（2）多基因性状如何在自然种群中进化。通过这一点，该研究员的主要目的是深入了解遗传信息在多大程度上可以用于准确预测个体的表型。在整个奖学金期间，该研究员将致力于外展工作，特别是旨在增加在进化生物学中代表性不足的群体的参与。为了解决多基因特征的遗传基础和进化动力学，该研究员将研究果蝇种群，因为它们迅速进化以应对环境的季节性波动。该系统提供了一个透镜，直接观察进化和选择，无论是在个别基因和特定的多基因性状在整个过程中的适应。本工作将集中在三个多基因性状的D。在自然种群中具有明显的生态学相关性。该研究员的第一个目标是绘制每种特征在季节之间迅速演变的遗传基础。通过这一点，该研究员旨在确定基因型-表型图谱在进化过程中是否稳定，或者多基因性状的遗传基础是否被进化过程改变。第二个目标将利用这些结果，结合7年的现有数据，探索那些支持多基因性状表型变异的遗传多态性与那些响应自然选择并推动性状进化的遗传多态性在多大程度上是相同的。该研究员将进一步获得广泛的正式和非正式培训，为学术研究和教学做好准备。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2021,Integrative Research Investigating the Rules of Life Governing Interactions Between Genomes,Environment and Phenotypes. The fellowship supports research and training of the fellow thatwill contribute to the area of Rules of Life in innovative ways. The fellow will conduct researchfocusing on polygenic traits, which are defined as the physical characteristics, or phenotypes, ofan organism that are influenced by many genes located throughout an individual’s genome.Examples of polygenic traits include numerous human diseases and the resilience of coral reefsto global climate change. The fellow will conduct experiments to understand: (1) how geneticdifferences between individuals give rise to differences in the physical expression of polygenictraits and (2) how polygenic traits evolve in natural populations. Through this, the fellow largelyaims to lend insight into the extent to which genetic information can be used to accurately predictan individual’s phenotype. Throughout the duration of this fellowship, the fellow will engage inoutreach efforts that specifically aim to increase the participation of underrepresented groups inevolutionary biology.To resolve the genetic basis and evolutionary dynamics of polygenic traits, the fellowwill study populations of Drosophila melanogaster as they rapidly evolve in response to seasonalfluctuations in the environment. This system provides a lens to directly observe evolution andselection, both on individual genes and specific polygenic traits throughout the course ofadaptation. This work will focus on three polygenic traits in D. melanogaster with demonstratedecological relevance in natural populations. The first aim of the fellow’s research will involvemapping the genetic basis of each trait as it rapidly evolves between seasons. Through this, thefellow aims to determine whether the genotype-to-phenotype map is stable during evolution, orwhether the genetic basis of polygenic traits is altered by the evolutionary process. The secondaim will leverage these results, in combination with 7 years of existing data, to explore the extent towhich those genetic polymorphisms that underpin the phenotypic variation of a polygenic traitare the same as those that respond to natural selection and drive the evolution of the trait throughtime. The fellow will further gain extensive formal and informal training in preparation for acareer of academic research and teaching.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.